Project Rogue REVISED
by RogueStar
Summary: DONE and completely REVISED! Enjoy my peoples!
1. A FOREWORD

A FOREWORD BEFORE THIS FIC....  
  
Okay, here's the thing....  
  
It's been over a year now since I started this fic, and I've finished it not too long ago. But as time went on, I've though of going back on this and editing, adding, taking out, making it sound BETTER then I did before. And believe me, I've could of done better on ABUNCH of parts.  
  
But that's not the ONLY reason; the other is that I didn't know a few facts from the show itself which never aired but rather was told over the net. After reading all this, I was then ready then ever to start and post a better vision of "Project Rogue". Geez, I'm glad I saved all the drafts to all the chapters then....  
  
It'll go like this; I'll post chapters like before, only they'll all be redone in the same plot, BUT, better spelling, HOPEFULY better gammer, ans so on. Also, I'll add a few things I didn't know about that were based on the show. Doing that will also help the development on the future sequel, known as "The ROGUE Revelation".   
  
One last thing before we get going; I don't expect to get as much reviews as the original, I simple feel that I should go back and "fix" this fic, to tie a few loose ends, and fix those gammer and spelling mistakes I over looked, which always "irked" me, get it? ^-^  
  
So, now that I got that out of the way, I hope that anyone willing to read this Zim fic OVER again, or if this is the first time, to enjoy the edited, REVISED "Project Rogue"!  
  
Thanks. ^-~  
  
*RogueStar* 


	2. The New Girl

Chapter 1  
  
The New Girl  
  
The light of the morning sun dawned on an unmistakable green and purple house. Inside, Gir sat on the living room floor watching his favortive show, "The Scary Monkey Show", while slurping on a slurpy bigger than his little robot body.  
  
As the SIR laughed at the monkey with slurpy flying out of his mouth, his Master entered the room, ajusting his black wig. Zim looked at Gir, giggling between gulps.  
  
He rolled his eyes. "Gir." The alien said walking up to the door.  
  
"Yes Master?" Gir answered innocently, not taking his eyes off the snarling monkey on the screen.  
  
"I'm leaving for the skool now." Zim said.  
  
"OKAY!" Gir said, the same as before.  
  
"...Oh, and Gir?" Zim said as he opened the door.  
  
"Yes?" The little robot answered.  
  
"Stay out of the lab today. I DON'T want a repeat of last time." Zim said stepping out.  
  
"Awww...." Gir said in a disappointed voice. Zim shook his head and closed the door behind him. Gir took the last slurp from his slurpy and stood up.  
  
"..............."  
  
"DOO DEE DOO DEE DOO!!" He sang as he skipped off towards the lab. (Oh boy...)  
  
~ The Irkin undercover invader walked down the sidewalk to his skool, mumbling to himself like he did everyday. "If Gir destroys my lab one more time..." Zim stopped, mid sentance as something caught his eye. He looked up just in time to see a faint light make it's way across the pail morning sky.  
  
"What the...?" He said, sharpening his eyes, trying to make out what it was. A silence went through the air as Zim stared straight at the light. He was so into it, and then, a hand came snapping down on his shoulder. Zim spun around, taking his eyes off the sky and and saw Dib, his arch enemy, standing behind him with Gaz standing not too far away, with the same scowel on her face as always.  
  
"What's wrong, ZIM? did I scare ya?" Dib asked, as sarcastic as ever.  
  
Zim scoweled. "You STINKING EARTH BEAST!! How DARE you seek up on "ZIM" like that!"  
  
Dib laughed. "You think your so smart. Well, SOMEDAY Zim, I'm gonna expose you to the world! And then, and only then, I'll get the respect I..." Dib was cut short as Gaz pulled him from his spikey black hair a few steps down the sidewalk.  
  
"Comon Dib, were gonna be late for skool!" She grumbled.  
  
Zim watched and snicker under his breath as the two turned the corner. He then remembered the light he saw in the sky. He looked back up, but nothing was there, the light was gone.  
  
'That filthy human made me miss it!' Zim started walking down the sidewalk again. '...Hmm, surely nothing important, a falling star maybe...' He thought looking back up at the sky.  
  
~ The bell rang at the skool, telling all of the students in Ms. Bitters class to be seated and prepare themselves for the day's disturbing lesson.  
  
"Class." Ms. Bitters said facing the already frightened childern. "Today we'll be discussing mutations that acure in humans after over exposer to radioactivity. Which reminds me of my childhood. When I was a doom child like you all are, a radioactive plant emploded, sending a massive of radioactive debrea caliding through the air and straight on top of me, causing....." Ms. Bitters stopped half way through her disturbing rant when she heard a note slip under the door. She "slithered" over to the note and picked it up. After silently reading it, she looked up at her class.  
  
"Students, it seems another doomed child will be joining us in this pitaful classroom. The skool seems to be "enjoying" additions lately..." She looked down at the note. "Her name is...Rogue."  
  
The door opened and the new class mate slowly walked in. All the children, including Zim in front, couldn't help but stare at the new girl as she stood at the head of them.  
  
Her face was focused, cold like stone. She had sharp piercing eyes and her hair was so blue, it was almost black, as were her eyes. She wore a jet black headband,black pants, and some odd looking white colored boots which both beared voliet gems on each side. And finally, she had a blood red shirt with a black star on it and a black vest over it.  
  
"Rogue, if you have anything to say, speak now, because the lines of communtication in this class are constantly closed." Ms. Bitters hissed.  
  
Rogue's sharp eyes searched around the room untill she spotted Zim. The alien looked right at her as well, suddenly feeling a cold chill going down his spine. The new kid gave him a creepy smirk.  
  
"My name is Rogue." She began, still looking at Zim. "...and that's all you need to know. I won't here long....just stay out of my way." Zim's eyes perked up in responds to what Rogue said. He noticed how focused she was on him. It looked as if she was trying to look right through him. The chill in his spine now turned into a gastly freeze.  
  
"Now where should this one sit?" Ms. Bitters said looking around the classroom. It didn't take long for she to find one. "Rogue, you'll be seated behind Brian in the second row." She said pointing her long creepy finger at the seat.  
  
Brian was in the first row next to Zim. He raised his hand.  
  
"What is it, Brian?" Ms. Bitters asked.  
  
"Ms. Bitters," He began, "Melvin is sitting in that sit."  
  
"So he is." She said in a creepy tone. She walked up, or rather slihered up to the small shrimping kid known as Melvin. "Melvin, your new sit is in the back next to Willy in the back."  
  
Melvin's face got whiter then it already was. There was a good reason why Willy was always put in the back of the classroom. There was a rumor that he hasn't bathed since the age of two! "B-But..." The pale boy uddered.  
  
"NOW!" Ms. Bitters snapped. A frighted Melvin quietly got up and went to his new seat. Ms. Bitters then turned her attention to Rogue, who was still completely focused on Zim.  
  
By that time, Dib noticed how the new girl just kept staring at his arch enemy. He figured she was staring at Zim because of his green skin, or "skin condition" as Zim puts it. But something in his gut was telling him to keep a close eye out for this one. She was giving off a weird vib, you would say.  
  
"Rogue!" Ms. Bitters yelled. Rogue finally, and without even jumping to the snake woman's shout, took her eyes off Zim and looked at Ms. Bitters.  
  
"Yes?" She answered in a rather cold tone.  
  
"Take your sit now!" Ms. Bitters said walking back to her desk.  
  
The new student took her seat, which was almost right behind Zim's. The Irkin turned to see she begun to stare at him again. 'What is WITH this new human?' He thought to himself. She was really starting to creep him out. He suddenly shook his head and thought how stupid it was to worry about some worthless new human. Dib is the one he sometimes has to worry about. Keyword there: SOMETIMES.  
  
As for Rogue, her eyes continued on Zim in the same cold stare as before. These were not eyes of longing, but the eyes of a predator watching it's victim. Just then, a thought when through her mind. Her eyes narrowed. Her thought was, 'Yeah...THAT'S the one...'  
  
TBC......... 


	3. Dib's Gut Feeling

Chapter 2  
  
Dib's Gut Feeling  
  
Twelve noon. Lunchtime at the skool. The children from Ms.Bitters' class lined up at the cafeteria. Zim watched in near horror as the frighting looking lunch lady plopped on his tray what looked like tuna casserole. He turned into the sitting area to see all of the children gobbling down the human food. His face turned even greener at the thought and went to his always empty table at the back of the room.  
  
He sat himself down and pushed his tray aside, not wanting to have to smell the awful human food. He sighed and looked up, to see none other than Dib, sitting a few tables away from him, with the same cold stare as always. Zim stared back, hoping he would stop, but of course, he didn't. The same thing, everyday.  
  
Suddenly, the new girl caught his eye. Rogue walked by him and sat down at the table right across from him. She looked at the food on her tray with a questionable look before poking at it and then with hesitation, took a sniff of it. Her face turned pale green as she clapped her hand over her mouth and pushed the tray away from her.  
  
Zim lifted an brow and thought it was rather strange for a human to reject human food.  
  
Rogue then felt someone's eyes on her, and she turned her head to see Zim staring straight towards her. She lower her eyebrows at him so that she was staring at him with the same scowel from earlier. Zim realized his staring, and jolted his face away, now looking down at the table, getting the chills again. 'Who is she?!' He thought to himself. He's never felt so freaked with a human before. No question about it, there was something "odd" about this one.  
  
Zim looked up, to see if Rogue was still watching him, but all he saw was a huge clump of moldy casserole come flying at him and hitting him smack dab between the eyes.  
  
He wiped the clump of goo off of his green face only to see Dib, standing a few feet away from him, a grin on his face and tossing another glop of casserole up and down. Zim stood up, growling, and picked up his tray, chucking it right at the troublesome human, hitting the boy in the head and knocking him over backwards.  
  
On the other side of the room, Melvin, as pale as ever, stood up on the table, and in a shrieking tone, screamed, "FOOOOOOD FIIIIGHT!!!". He was then KOed by a flying milk container.  
  
The creepy new kid broke her focus on Zim at Melivn's words, and before she knew it, massive globs of casserole were flying through the air, coming inches away from her head.  
  
Confused as to what the heck was going on, Rogue quickly ducked out of the way of another flying tray, and then under the table. Looking from her hiding place, she gave a disgused look to the sudden situation.  
  
Meanwhile, Dib and Zim were taking this food fighting pretty seriously. The two enemys were exchanging throws with almost perfect targeting with each one. And it didn't take long before the whole lunch room was part of it, with no real two sides, if you didn't count Zim and Dib, that is.  
  
Rogue continued to hide under her table, still ducking loose food chunks that landed right next to her. She looked to hold back barfing with each dodge. But soon, she spotted the door, and started to crawl over to the table nearest to it. Rogue stood and went to duck out of the door, when she felt someone shove her to the ground.  
  
She looked up to see Dib run pass her while throwing another clump of food at Zim, who was already pelted with the stuff. The girl went to stand and tell the boy off, but was stopped before she could even speak. She noticed her headband fell off. Suddenly acting frantic, she started looking for it while tightly holding her hand on top of her head.  
  
Right at that point, Dib was having the time of his life humiliating Zim. It didn't hit him till right then that he knocked into the new girl a few throws back. He turned to see if she was alright He was puzzled when he saw Rogue moving around on her hands and knees, more upset looking then before, still dodging the flying cafeteria food. And she still had her hand on her head, like she was trying to hold on to something.  
  
'What is she doing?' Dib thought to himself. Rogue was so eager to find her headband, she was knocking kids over without any regret. Finally, she found what she was looking for, and ran right out of the cafeteria door in a panic.  
  
"...That was weird." Dib said to himself outloud. "Why would she get so freaked out over a stupid headband?"  
  
Suddenly, a shadow loomed behind Dib. The figure tapped him on the shoulder. Dib turned to see Zim, holding a huge tray of casserole over his head. Dib's eyes widened as Zim brought the tray crashing down upon his human rival, covering him with human food stuffs. Zim brusted out in laugher at his food covered enemy.  
  
"How does it FEEL being covered in your own flithy food slop?!" Zim yelled at Dib, who was taking chunks of casserole out of his hair. He tried to think of a good comeback, but he couldn't stop wondering why that new kid, Rogue acted so strange over her headband. Something was telling his inner paranormal that Rogue was up to something....something...PARanormally.  
  
"I gotta go." Dib suddenly said, and ran out of the cafeteria door.  
  
Zim stood there for a moment abit confused, then smiled and yelled, "HA! You can RUN, human, but ZIM will win ANYTHING you throw at...ZIM!!" Suddenly, a big kid came up behind the screaming Irkin and pushed him face down first into a pile of moldy casserole on the floor.  
  
~Dib ran down the hall, making sure nobody saw him. He kept looking out for Rogue. The more he thought about, the more it was making sence to look for her. After her weird actions in the lunchroom, the situation that morning suddenly came back in his head, the way she kept looking at Zim like that.  
  
'Could she know about Zim?' He thought turning a corner. 'About him being an alien??' That thought was suddenly followed by a more fearful one: 'Could she be...?!'  
  
Finally, Dib spotted Rogue running into a room, which Dib didn't know where to yet. Before she disappeared through the door, he saw she still had her hand on her head. Dib slowed down abit, and quietly walked to the front of where she went. It was the girl's restroom.  
  
At first, Dib started thinking again, thinking if by any chance, would a girl want to run away from a crowd of people with her headband off, JUST to put it back on in the restroom? It didn't take long for him to answer, "Yeah, right."  
  
He placed his hand on the door, but stopped a second to see if anybody was coming, mostly, any GIRLS to see him going in. With the coast clear, he quietly pushed to open the door.  
  
Inside, Rogue stood in front of the restroom mirror, her black headband now back in place. But just as she finished with that, she heard the door opening slowly. She jumped, and ran into the far off stall.  
  
Dib, still being alert, entered the girl's room. He gave a small sigh to see that there wasn't any other girls in there, but it didn't throw his guard to see Rogue was no where in sight. He was SURE he saw her come in, and he was POSITIVE she didn't come out.  
  
'She's hiding...' He thought as he started to make his way down the room, passing the stalls one by one.  
  
In the very last stall, Rogue could hear Dib's footsteps as he grew closer. She felt a small drop of sweat slid from her forehead, but she continued to keep a cool head. '...He KNOWS? HOW!?' She thought. The footsteps got closer. '...Maybe....because of ZIM?'  
  
Dib was now one stall away from Rogue. He stopped, feeling he was getting warming. He looked down, and there were a pair of white boots poking from under the stall door.  
  
"...AH-"  
  
That was the only thing Dib could get out before Rogue came jetting out. Before Dib could blink, his lower body was meet with a folded fist. The boy cleched his stomach and fell to his knees. His vision was blured from the power of that punch. He blacked out.  
  
It wasn't even 30 seconds before Dib regained his sences and opened his eyes. He was on the floor, still holding onto his belly. He shot up and looked all around. Rogue was gone. His stomach felt like it was nearly hammer right through with a steel bar. That wasn't a normal punch.  
  
"...She's CAN'T be human!"  
  
Dib got right up and headed for the door. But just as he got to it, it opened with a group of girls he knew from his class...  
  
".......Uhhh.......ummm......" Dib just stood, frozen with the girls staring back at him.  
  
After about a minute of this, the front girl let out the loudest scream, which could be heard around the whole skool.  
  
"WAITASECOND!! ICAN-"  
  
*BLAM*  
  
Dib left the girl's room with a hurt belly, and a black eye.  
  
~ Recess came. Ms. Bitters' class came charging out to the skool playground, except Zim and Dib. They came walking out about fifteen minutes after recess started. Both got in trouble for starting up the food fight at lunch earlier, plus, Dib now had to stay after skool later for going in the girl's restroom. The WHOLE skool knew about that...  
  
Zim and Dib gave thier glares to each other before parting they ways on the playground. The Irkin headed to where the kids were playing kickball, and the Earth boy went and sat next to his sister, Gaz, who was playing her GameSlave2.  
  
"...What did you do THIS time?" Gaz asked coldly, not taking her eyes off her game.  
  
"I'd rather not talk about it, alright?" Dib answered bluntly.  
  
"I don't mean THAT..." Gaz said, "Why were you late for recess?"  
  
Dib hung his head. She knew about the girl's restroom too. He didn't answer her real question, so she then switched to another one:  
  
"Who gave you the black eye?" She smriked.  
  
"Oh, SHUT UP!" Dib snapped.  
  
Suddenly feeling down right STUPID for what he did, Dib got up and walked away. 'I'll NEVER hear the end of this now!' He thought. 'Maybe I should of just waited for her to come out before-'  
  
Dib then noticed Zim standing about ten feet away from him. He was watching the other kids play thier kickball game. Looking down, Dib saw some extra kickballs next to his feet. After a quick thought, he smiled and picked one up. 'This should cheer me right up!'  
  
As Dib was gearing up to bean Zim in the head, far off in a shadowed corner of the skool building, Rogue was also watching Zim. Her sharp blackish-blue eyes were perfectly focused on the undercover alien. Then, she rosed her left arm straight forward, fist clenched and face solid as stone. A small red glimmer flashed of a second on her wrist...  
  
But just then, Dib chucked the kickball at Zim, hitting him right in the back of the head and knocking him down. Rogue's eyes flicker in confusion, and she let her arm down to see what just happened. She saw it was Dib who threw the ball, and she suddenly grew hot with anger.  
  
The girl walked out from her shadowed place and right towards Dib, who was laughing for what he did. Zim was still on the ground, KOed from the rear attack, and Dib was too busy to notice the new girl coming up behind him...  
  
In a flash, Dib felt somebody grab his arms, swung him around, and SLAMED him against the brick wall. He looked in horror to see the same girl who drove him the gut eariler, the same one who he KNEW couldn't be human.  
  
"LISTEN you..." Rogue started in a cold, hot tempered tone. "I don't know where you think you can ruin my job and get away with it, but I SUGGEST you STOP, if you value your life..." She gripped tighter to the boy's arms.  
  
Dib never thought in a million years that he would be scared out of his mind right now, but he wasn't showing it. He KNEW something wasn't right with this kid. NO girl could have that much grip power.  
  
"...Y-your JOB?" He said, trying to keep from showing his fear. "...I don't know what your-"  
  
"SHUT UP!" Rogue shouted in his face. "What I'm here for is NONE of you busy, so I would like it if you just stay...out...of...MY WAY!!"  
  
She then lifted Dib up over her head and THREW him to the side. He landed on his side, which felt worse then the stomach punch. Rogue coldly stared down at him before turning and walking away.  
  
Just as she did that, a gust of cool wind came through the playground. It breezed through Rogue hair as she walked off. Dib saw something that send chills up and down his spine.  
  
Rogue had no ears.  
  
TBC........ 


	4. The Intruder

Chapter 3  
  
The Intruder  
  
As the clock in Ms.Bitters' classroom struck three, the skool's hallways were suddenly flooded with kids eager to get home, being Friday and all. Dib, on the other hand, stayed in Ms.Bitters' classroom in detention. He was still trembling over what happened at recess with Rogue. He hasn't said a word since then. He was thinking of how she grabed his arms from behind, and slammed him to the wall.   
  
'I knew it! I just knew it!!' He thought still shaking. 'Rogue ISN'T normal! She's so cold, and, MAN what a grip!' He started to break out in a cold sweat. 'She doesn't have ears...the only other person around here like that is...  
  
  
  
~Meanwhile, Zim was walking down the sidewalk going to his house, trying to think of a good way to get back at Dib for K.O.ing him at recess. "That rotten Dib." Zim said to himself. "First that disgusting human food fight, then the kickball attack." But he then smiled at the thought that Dib was in detention, he didn't know why through.  
  
Zim finally got to his house, plotting on what to do to Dib on Monday. He seem to have already forgotten about how that new kid, Rogue kept staring at him almost all day. As he opened the door to his house, he expected to see Gir watching T.V., or running around the livingroom or something, but he wasn't there. It was unusually quiet.   
  
"Gir?" Zim said a bit confused. "...Hmmm...COMPUTER! Locate Gir!"   
  
The house's computer made a couple clicks and beeps and then announced, "Location: The Lab"   
  
"WHAT?!!" I told him NOT to go down there!!" Zim yelled. "Computer! Take me down to the lab immediately!"   
  
The computer opened an hidden elevator under Zim's feet and took him down to the underground lab. Once there, all Zim saw were rubber piggys and mooses covering the whole lab. The invader's face turned red with anger.   
  
"GIIIIIR!!!" Zim screamed. Gir's head popped up from a huge pile of rubber toys from the corner.   
  
"WELCOME HOME MASTER!!!" The little robot yelled, waving at him.   
  
"GIR, what did I tell you CLEARLY before leaving this morning?!" Zim said shouted. Gir stared at his upset master for a moment.  
  
"..........Oh! Oh! I know! I know! Ummmmmm............I forget!"   
  
Zim growled and slapped his forehead. "I told you NOT to come into the lab! The lab is NOT a playroom for your rubber....THINGS!"   
  
Gir's smile disappeared and tears started forming in his round, light blue metal eyes. Zim shot a look to this. He sighed and said in a little more softer tone, "Look, Gir, just don't do it again, OK?"   
  
The little robot immediately perked up with a big smile. "OK!"  
  
"Alright, now...," said Zim. "I want you to pick up all this mess right now." Gir saluted him, skipped over to the control panal and pressed a button, activating a huge vacuum tube on the wall. It came down and sucked up all the rubber toys up to the upper house. Gir then jumped in the tube himself and got sucked up to where all his precious rubber piggys and mooses were. Zim could hear him squealing, "WHEEEEE!" all the way up.  
  
After that, Zim took a deep sigh, removed his Earth getup, and went right to work in the lab. He had a rough day and was looking forward for some peace and quiet.  
  
In the house part of the base, Gir was now happily playing with two of his rubber toys, smaking them together, pretending they were kissing. (^^ *SQUEE!!*)  
  
However, right outside the house, a lone figure stood watching Gir playing through the window. Somehow, this figure got pass all the outside security, and was getting ready to strike, at anytime.  
  
~As night fell, Zim was still working in the lab. For the first time in a while, Gir hasn't made a pip in hours. Taking this into consideration, Zim took a short break from his work. He sat back in his chair and closed his wide red eyes. But as he began to dooze off, a sudden alarm went off, causing Zim to jump in his chair.   
  
"WARNING! UNKNOWN INTRUDER! WARNING! UNKNOWN INTRUDER!" The computer repeated. Without any hesitation, Zim got out of his chair, wiped on his human disguise ( just incase ), and took the elevator up to the house.   
  
'If it's DIB, oh, how sweet the payback!!' The Irkin thought as he got to the house level. But when he looked around, nothing looked disturbed. The front door wasn't opened or anything, nethier were the windows. Zim walked over to the door and opened it. No one was outside, or on the front lawn. He shut the door and thought for a moment. "...Computer, I do not see any intruder anywhere."  
  
The house beeped a few times. "My sensors are just bearly picking up something... it's appears to be "zooming" around the base!" The computer explained.  
  
"ZOOming??" Zim said with a werid look. He then noticed something was missing. "Wait a second! Where's Gir?"  
  
Just then, Zim heard a very light muffled sound coming from behind the the sofa. Out came Gir, wiggling like a worm, all tied up and gagged. The little robot was able to stand up and hop to his master. He hopped up and down, trying to tell Zim something.  
  
"GIR? What happened?!" He ripped the gag off the little SIR. "Gir, quickly, who did this to you?!"   
  
Gir thought for a quick moment, and answered, "...I don't know."   
  
"You don't KNOW?!" Zim said.   
  
"I couldn't see it."   
  
"What do you mean you couldn't SEE it?!" Zim said, getting a bit irritated. "If THIS is some kind of game..."   
  
"I couldn't seeeeee it...", Gir said, extending his round robot eyes at Zim, "...because it was mooooving too fast!"  
  
"Moving too fast? So there WAS a intruder!" Zim said. "Gir, did you at least see where it went?"   
  
Before Gir could answer, the computer interrupted saying, "WARNING! THE INTRUDER'S IN THE LAB!"   
  
"THE LAB!?!?" Zim yelled. "COMPUTER! Take me down there right now!!" The elevator appeared under Zim once again and took him down. As that happened, Gir was able to wiggle out of his bind and follow his master down to the lab.   
  
When they got there, the lab was quiet, like no one was around. But the computer and finding Gir the way he was wasn't about to let Zim's guard down. He motioned Gir to keep quiet.   
  
They both walked deeper into the lab. Zim's antenna slightly twitched under his wig as he tried to pick up any vibrations of any moving thing. Gir closely followed from behind. When Zim made a sudden stop, Gir bumped into him. The invader turned and made a "shhhh" sound to his SIR, and he pointed downwards. His antenna were picking up a light swift vibration coming from the lower levels of the lab. They headed for a nearby elevator that lead to those lower levels.   
  
As they were being lowered, Zim's antenna twitched faster and faster as they got closer to the source of the movement.   
  
The elevator stopped, and the doors opened. There was bearly any light, making it very hard to see, but Zim now knew for a fact that whoever it is that was confusing his computer's sensors was on this floor.   
  
"Gir, activate your lights." Zim whispered. Gir saluted and turned on the flashlight beams in his eyes. The moment he did, Zim heard something moving, quite fast, from one end of the room to the other. Suddenly, the vibration stopped.   
  
"THERE!" Zim pointed at the darkness, where the vib finally stopped. Gir looked in that direction, lighting up that area. And there stood the same figure, was one that was watching through the window earlier. Zim's eyes grew, he immediately recognized the intruder.   
  
It was Rogue.  
  
TBC........... 


	5. Rogue Revealed

Chapter 4  
  
Rogue Revealed  
  
"...YOU!" Zim yelled, pointing his finger at the uninvited Rogue.   
  
"Who were you expecting in the first place?" Rogue asked in her cold tone.   
  
In truth, Zim was hoping Dib was the intruder. He was suddenly struck with the reality that he was scared out of his mind right now. This human female wasn't "normal", as to terms to what is normal on Earth. He shook the thought off in his mind, not wanting Rogue to see that.   
  
"I KNEW there was something not right with you! Who are you?! What do you want?! Why are you here and how did you get in?!  
  
Rogue looked at Zim sharply for a few moments, saying nothing to his questions. A weak smile then came across her face and she let out a eerie laugh which made Zim's skin crawl.   
  
"How did I get IN?" She said in between laughings. "Your stupid looking lawn gomes are so slow, it's pathetic! And your SIR is so outdated, not to mention DUMB. All I had to do was knock on the door!" Rogue narrowed her eyes into a glare. Zim looked down at Gir who only gave him the "who me" look before smiling.   
  
The invader shook his head at Gir and looked back up at Rogue. "That still doesn't answer my other questions!" He said. "Who are you and what do you want?!"   
  
Rogue only stared at him more before speaking, colder than before. "My purpose here is simple." She said. " And it won't matter after I'm through with you!"   
  
Zim eyes widened, he didn't dare to admit it, but his insides were trembling.  
  
Rogue raised her arm, focusing only on Zim. Slowly, a violet colored gem appeared on the back of her hand. It began to give off a glow, starting from violet, to crimson red.   
  
Zim's eyes only widened more when he realized what it was. Gir on the other hand, was oblivious to any danger. The little robot shuffled forward, staring at what he thought was rather pretty.  
  
"Oooooo!" He squealed. "TIS' PRETTY!" He was only inches away from the gem. The "pretty" gem started to make a humming noise.   
  
Zim's antennas shot up, knocking his human wig right off his head. He jumped foward, grabbing Gir by his one little antenna and yanked him back.   
  
"DUCK!"   
  
Zim dove away as a blast of energy fired from the glowing jewel. Instand of hitting Zim, the laser blast hit the wall behind the irkin and SIR unit.   
  
  
  
"YAHOO!" Gir squealed, still not acknowledging that he and his master just bearly got thier heads blown off.   
  
"Hold STILL!" Rogue shouted. her gem started to warm up again.   
  
Zim shot his eyes around this sudden dangerous situation. He remembered the elevator that was right behind them. He grabbed Gir again and dove into it. "ELEVATOR!" Zim said in a near shriek. "TAKE ME TOP SIDE, NOW!" The doors closed quickly and shot up towards the house, leaving Rogue standing in the dark.   
  
With a sneer across her face, she just slowly stepped back into the shadows.   
  
  
  
Zim felt beads of sweat pour off of his face. He could feel his insides twisting and bunching into a ball. As the elevator contiued it's ascension, Zim looked down to see what Gir's reaction was to the situation, only to see the little robot dancing about to the elevator music, humming the tune as it went along. Zim reacted with a hopeless sigh.   
  
'Who IS this ROGUE?!' He thought to himself, knowing Gir couldn't care less at the moment. 'Those lasers came straight from her hands! I didn't know humans were into implanted weaponry...are they??'   
  
Zim's focus was suddenly broken when he felt the elevator jolt a bit. Even that was enough to get Gir's attention. "...What was that??" The robot asked.  
  
Unknown to Zim and Gir, Rogue was now on top of the elevator. She looked at the powerful cable with a cold smile. Raising her hand up and bringing it back down, in a karate chop, she snapped the cable in half.   
  
Zim felt the elevator stop, then felt it slip, and start to plummet back down to the lower levels of the base at insane speed.  
  
"WE'RE FAAAALLIN'!!!!" Gir squealed, not morbid fear, but more in a joyful sense.   
  
Zim felt the knot in him suddenly get tighter as he know Gir was right. Looking around franticly, he tried to see a possible way out. The irkin remembered the four lasers in his pack. He quickly whipped them out and blasted a hole through the side of the falling elevator wall. As they continued to drop, he continued to fire away in a smooth beam. He then grabbed Gir by the arm and leaped out of the hole just before the elevator went crashing to the final ground level.   
  
Zim took in a well needed breather as he and Gir looked around at what level they jumped onto. Zim knew right away that they were in an uncomplete level of his base. There were still half completed walls, unconnected wires hanging from the ceiling and right in the middle of the floor, was a HUGE hole that went deeper than Zim knew. The alien was still not sure what to turn it into, so it remained unfinished.   
  
It didn't take Zim long to realize that Rogue wouldn't be too far behind, and he had a good feeling now what made the elevator fall like that.   
  
  
  
"What am I going to do!?" Zim said in a panic, still thinking about the near fatal fall. He looked around the level in the making. There were alot of uncompleted sections, where Rogue could come out of, her being able to snap the elevator cable was enough for him to know that she could do alot more damage than that if provoked. Zim looked around, trying to spot where the insane human would come out. He could feel the sweat on his face again.   
  
  
  
"Gir, be on full alert!" Zim said. "We're in a very dangerous situation here! Do you understand?"   
  
For once, Gir was understood. His big metal eyes turned from a light blue to a crimson red, he saluted. "Yes Sir!"   
  
Zim removed his human eye contacts, hoping that would help him spot out anything out of place. A hushed quiet loomed over the area. He stood alert, ready for anything. Surprisingly, so was Gir. He stood right next to Zim, carefully scanning the walls. Seconds went by, then minutes, but Zim knew better, he wasn't about to fall for anything right now.   
  
  
  
'Comon....show yourself...' Zim thought making a fist. A few more minutes seemed to pass by like hours.   
  
Suddenly, Gir's eyes perked up. He pointed to one of the walls. "I HEAR something!" He said in a usual high pitched tone.   
  
Zim spun around quickly to see the wall Gir pointing to. His antennas immediately picked up some sort of vibration. "Good work, Gir!" Zim said, glad that Gir was working just like a SIR should. But then, Gir turned and pointed at a different section of the wall. "Nooooo, it's over there!" He then pointed to the opposite wall. "No, wait! Over there! No...there!...hummm, THERE!"  
  
  
  
"GIR! Make up your mind!" Zim shouted, thinking he was playing another game. But then he too started picking up numerous movements, coming from all over the walls, just like Gir said.   
  
"WAAAAAHHH!!!" Gir cried out. "I CONFUSE!!"  
  
  
  
"Could she be doing this on purpose? To confuse us?!" Zim said to himself.   
  
Just then a voice came echoing out of all directions of the room.   
  
"Ain''t you the smart one."   
  
Zim's body froze with fear. Gir on the other hand, just said cheerfully, "Hey! That was the pretty gem person!" Zim was so afraid, he felt like he was gonna be sick. Suddenly, the vibrations in the walls stopped.   
  
  
  
It was silent for about a minute. The feeling in the air was thick with the sense of a hidden trap. It was something that was beginning to get to Zim.  
  
Suddenly, the invader's antennas went straight up as he picked up a new vib, coming from right above.   
  
He looked right up and saw a shadow coming straight down. It landed and stepped into the light of the room. It was Rogue, her face fixed in a evil scowl, colder than the ones she's been giving Zim all day long.   
  
Zim took a step back, swallowing hard, and trying to keep himself from trembling as Rogue came closer and closer to him with every step he took back.   
  
  
  
"Now listen," Rogue finally said, raising the laser up to a firing position. "Why don't you make this easier for both of us and STAND STILL!" The gem powered up even faster than before and fired at Zim. Thinking quickly, he releashed his spider legs and just missed the blast. Rogue showed her teeth and lunged forward after Zim, and the chase began.  
  
  
  
Zim jumped from one uncompleted wall to another, trying to dodge the lasers that Rogue kept on sending one after the other. As this continued on, Gir was standing still, watching from the ground in amazement.  
  
"OOoooOOoo! PRETTY LIGHTS!" Just then, a blast came only inches away from hitting him, but, he neither flinched nor moved out of the way.   
  
  
  
Zim continued to run for his life, moving out of the way of every blast. He jumped from one side of the wall to another, only this time one of his spider legs slipped, and he just bearly caught himself before falling. He re-adjusted his hold on the wall and looked up, only to see a giant blast coming straight for him. Zim cocked his head to the side, just missing the blast as it drove deep into the metal wall. The blast had gotten so close to hitting him, a small burn was left on his cheek.  
  
  
  
He looked up again to see Rogue now right in front of his person, hanging from one of the cords that hung from the ceiling. she glared at him in a locked stare. Zim felt his heart-like organ jump into his throat. Rogue still had the laser aimed inches away from his face.  
  
  
  
She flashed her creepy smirk. "Tell me Zim...are you scared of me?" She spoke in a tone that could make your skin crawl. "Do you think you can honestly get away...? I've handled more difficult missions than you before...and I've FINISHED every one of them."   
  
Zim's eyes scanned the area. The humming with Rogue gem started to quicken. Just then, he remembered the large, uncompleted floor in the mddle of the level. That hole had quite a drop.   
  
'It might just work...' He thought looking back at Rogue.   
  
The gem was now fully powered up as Rogue got ready for one final blow. But just before she could do so, Zim dropped from the ceiling, and landed right in front of said hole.  
  
  
  
Rogue let a small growl escape from her throat as she dropped down as well. The two now watched each other, about three feet apart.   
  
"THERE'S NO USE TRYING TO RUN!" Rogue yelled, her face hot with anger. Zim perched himself up on his spider legs, ready to put his little plan into action. Rogue focused on Zim, this time aiming to charge at him and to not only blast him, but to knock him into the hole, which she has just noticed herself.  
  
  
  
"This ends right now, Zim!" Rogue ran forward and got ready to attack. But just as Rogue charged at him, Zim rose straight up into a jump and locked himself to the ceiling. Rogue couldn't stop in time. She ran right into the deep drop, and disappeared into the darkness.   
  
A still silence befell the area. Zim let out a long sigh, and dropped from the cable he held from. He went to the hole's edge and peeked down. It was too dark to see the bottom, but he couldn't see Rogue.   
  
"VICTORY!!" He cheered out.   
  
Gir then came walking over to him with his cute grin. "LET'S GO BAKE MUFFINS!" The SIR squealed happily.   
  
Zim folded his spider legs back into his pack. He couldn't stop grinning himself. "This just shows Gir that NO human can stop ZIM! Not even the laser hand ones!" Feeling more then proud of himself, he and Gir turned to exit the uncompleted area.   
  
But a eerie sound suddenly made Zim stop in his tracks. It was the sound of metal clanging up against the wall from the pit.  
  
  
  
Zim slowly turned around. That knot came shooting back. Slowing coming out of the hole was Rogue, her face showed nothing but anger, spider legs of her own coming out if her back. Her headband now gone, and two long antennas poking through her blackish blue hair...  
  
TBC....... 


	6. A New Allie?

Chapter 5  
  
A New Allie?  
  
Zim's jaw dropped and his eyes widened to two times there size upon seeing Rogue climb out of the pit with her own pair of spider legs, burning with anger, and a death glare in her eyes. She stood up, stumbling a bit as she re-folded her spider legs. With her black headband gone, her two, long, curly tipped antennas stood straight up out of her hair, which was now messy.   
  
  
  
Zim stood his ground, with mouth still hanging open. An eerie sense of "deva ju" came over him at that moment, This situation, as shocking as it was now getting, has happened before…when Tak came to his door that day and revealed herself right then and there. With such an experience already lived through, the invader felt that he should have seen this coming a mile away, but…  
  
"…YOU…you're a…a…" Zim was speechless, nonetheless.   
  
Rogue clenched both of her fists, her body trembling with anger. "…You ROTTEN little...." She worded out, unable to finish her sentence. More and more, rage began to build up inside of her. She then glared at Zim, causing a bone chilling feeling to sweep over the male Irken.   
  
"…THAT'S IT!" Rogue shouted, voice echoing throughout the room. "I'LL MAKE SURE YOU DIE!!!"   
  
Zim didn't have enough time to react to what happened next. In a flash, Rogue bolted towards Zim, driving him into the wall. The attack left a dent in the metal wall.   
  
Winded and half passed out, Zim tried to free himself from the anger crazed Irken, but to his surprise and pain, her grip alone was something he has never felt before. She buried just one hand onto his chest, and pushed deeper into the wall. The air rusted out of Zim's body, and the invader was doing all he could do just to keep conscious.   
  
  
  
Zim shut his eyes, taking to block out the overwhelming pain Rogue was giving to him. He grit his teeth down hard, not wanting to scream, the pain was all he could feel. The feeling in his legs has gone out, his hands, which were once trying to push Rogue's arm off, now drooped down on his sides, weak and completely out of strength.   
  
"Any last words?"   
  
Zim's eyes shot open, and his blurred sight was greeted with a glowing gem, ready to fire. Just behind the glow, he saw Rogue's grinning face, the look of a killer, or one whose about to kill. What ever the word was, Zim was suddenly hit with the thought…that this was the end.  
  
He shut his eyes again, and began to tremble at the thought that the last thing he will hear is the blast of the laser and the sound of Rogue's sinter laugh...  
  
But instead, something Zim never thought he'd be happy to hear...   
  
  
  
"GIMME A PIGGYBACK RIDE!!!"   
  
Out of nowhere, Gir came running up and jumped on Rogue's back, making her let go of her target. With the grip gone, Zim fell to his knees, clutching his chest and breathing hard. He picked himself off the floor with his spider legs.   
  
Meanwhile, Gir was unknowingly helping Zim by keeping Rogue too busy to see his Master recovering. The little SIR hung off the psycho's back, still screaming, "PIGGYBACK! PIGGYBACK!"  
  
  
  
"GET OFF OF ME!! YOU PIECE OF TRASH!" Rogue yelled, trying to throw Gir off. When she finally prided the SIR off her back, she chucked him against the wall, making the little robot's eyes go black. Rogue looked back to where Zim was, but he was now gone. "...That blasted-!" She looked around the darkened room, trying to re-locate her lost prey.   
  
  
  
'Now, where is he...?' She thought to herself, her eyes scanning the room.   
  
Unknown to Rogue, Zim was hanging between the cords on the ceiling, safely hidden in the shadows, or, so he thought.   
  
'Another one! Another Irken is after me!' Zim mind raced. 'Could she be WORKING for Tak?! Then could that mean Tak is back on Earth?!'   
  
Suddenly, Zim stared to break out in a sweat, with so many things going through his mind. A bead of sweat dripped off of his forehead and made it's way down to the floor, making a very light, very suddle sound.   
  
  
  
Rogue's antennas shot right up. She looked to the ceiling, exactly were Zim was hiding.   
  
"THERE YOU ARE!" She unfolding her spider legs and launched herself straight for Zim. The invader's eyes grew in fright as he quickly dodged to the right.   
  
  
  
The chase suddenly resumed on the ceiling. Zim frantically jumped from wire to wire as Rogue followed close behind, both using their spider legs. Rogue's aim seemed to be just as good in the air as it was on the ground. Zim could feel the heat from the blasts zipping by him, just missing his head.   
  
'This is MADNESS!' Zim thought. 'I can't keep this up! I've got to stop her somehow!'   
  
  
  
He jumped on a group of wires that were tangled and knotted. He noticed one of the wires were cut, possibly got hit by one of Rogue's lasers. With no time to lose, Zim grabbed the live wire and held his position. Rogue noticed, thinking he was finally ready to give up. A smile smeared crossed her face, as she got closer to Zim, who was still holding his ground among the wires.  
  
  
  
The intruder made her move, leaping toward Zim, weapon ready. With focued determination, Zim swerved to the side, just missing Rogue's ruthless but failed attack. Then, clutching the live wire tight, he slammed it directly on her laser, immediately short circuiting it.   
  
  
  
Surprised by her target's sudden show of bravery, Rogue was taken back by the jolt of electrical energy that began to surge through her body. Zim hoped that the shock would at least knock her out, but it merely stunned her for a second.  
  
  
  
However, Rogue's spider legs began to short out as well. Losing her balance, she fell to the ground with a loud thud. She struggled to stand, but she only got as far as her knees. Sparks flew out of her laser gem. She clutched it, hung her head and grid her teeth, showing she was in some pain. Her injured arm started to go crazy, fingers twitching and trembling. More sparks flew, and then all at once, Rogue's whole body flashed white.   
  
  
  
Zim shielded his eyes, the light was blinding. For the moment, he thought Rogue was going to self-destruct. But after the light died down, nothing happened. Zim opened his eyes to see Rogue still kneeing, but she did not look like what she did before. Her human disguise was finally gone, revealing what she truly looked like.  
  
She was definitely Irken, her skin was a darker green then Zim's, and she had a normal Irken uniform on. But a couple things were different. Without her human hair, she had slightly longer antennas. But even more unusual, she appeared to have what looked like robotic arms. They were white with a violet colored gem on each on top of her wrists. That explained the lasers and tight grip.   
  
Still holding on to her injury, she looked up to the ceiling at Zim with her sharp eyes, which were now a deep purple color.  
  
  
  
Zim's eyes narrowed at Rogue's true looks. 'She's a cybrog! I never knew the Irken army allowed such implants!' He thought. At seeing this now, it explained her whole act of stalking him through his base. Her speed and stealth alone was something that even impressed Zim. But the question now was "why".   
  
Slowly and still being careful, Zim lowered himself down to the ground, right in front of Rogue. She looked up at him, or rather, glared at him. The male invader folded his metal legs back into his pak. Rogue took a deep breath, writhing a bit with her arm being so messed up.  
  
  
  
"You've won…" She said hanging her head in a warrior's defeat. "I've never thought I'd been beaten by the likes of YOU!"  
  
Zim held back a shout from such a comment. "…What do you mean by that?" He asked this with a glare of his own.   
  
  
  
The female Irken looked back up at him, not saying anything.  
  
"I SAID…WHAT did you MEAN by that!?" Zim repeated, this time, louder.  
  
Again, Rogue didn't answer. The look on her face was blank and cold, like she had nothing to say to his question, or more like she didn't care at all. At seeing this, Zim moved to another question…  
  
"Okaaay, then what are you doing here? You are Irken, right?"  
  
"……………"  
  
"…DID THE TAK SEND YOU?!?"   
  
A confused look came on Rogue's face. "WHO?!"   
  
  
  
Zim lifted a non-existent eyebrow. "You have nothing to do with Tak?" He thought for sure that was the reason for the madness.  
  
Slowly, Rogue lifted herself off the floor and looked at Zim face to face. There was another moment of silence.   
  
"…I see that the Tallest were right." Rogue finally spoke, with an odd smile on her face. Zim's eyes widened at the sound of his leaders' name.  
  
"The Almighty Tallest??" He said, loosing up a bit. "What about them? What do they want?"  
  
"Allow me to explain…" Rogue said, now sounding rather formal then some crazy. "I was send by our Almighty Tallest themselves, to check up on you, Invader Zim, and see how your progress on taking over this planet is doing. And I'm pleased to said that you're passed the checkup." She flashed that smile again.  
  
Zim stood there, not sure what to say at first. 'The Tallest must TRULY want to see how I'm doing, so they send one of their best…uh…' He looked at Rogue again, trying to think of the right word. "…What ARE you, anyhow?? What rank are you in?"  
  
Rogue look at him with her sharp eyes, and answered, "…I'm a new type of invader, a HELPER, you could say. I was also ordered by our leaders to STAY with you till I'm told to head back, to continue my report on your mission." She cleared her throat. "*Anem* My actions before where to test your reaction to sudden trials and danger. Besides that one part when your SIR unit jumped me, I'd said you've passed that as well."  
  
Zim remembered Gir. He turned to see that his robot was back on, and swaying his little head back and forth, like nothing happened.   
  
"So, as I said before, I will be residing with you till the Tallest call me back to the Massive." Rogue said. "Is that understood?"  
  
Zim was still a bit shocked to this sudden new turn. Just a moment ago, he was running for his life, and for what? A test? Well, he felt that it was by time the Tallest showed him SOME kind of appreciation. Anyway he looked at it, it was beginning to make sense...  
  
"Yes! I understand, and I will do my best to pass the rest of this "TEST"." Zim answered, and finished with a salute.  
  
"...Perfect." Rogue said, smiling again. There something about that smile...  
  
The Irken saluting suddenly looked down at Rogue's damaged arm. "... I have something in the lab that could fix that rig-"  
  
"No thanks...I can fix it myself..." Rogue said coldly, not letting Zim finish. She turned and began to make her way towards the elevator, leaving Zim and Gir to catch up.   
  
'...The Tallest were right...that fool IS gullible...' The cybrog thought. "Now, on to plan "B"..."  
  
TBC............... 


	7. The Past Three Days

Chapter 6  
  
The Past Three Days  
  
The lab was quiet, until the sound of the elevator doors opening broke the silent. Out stepped Rogue, she looked around the lab to see that Zim wasn't there. Breathing a small sigh, she held up her wrist and pressed some buttons on her cyborg arm. It made some 'beep' noises, then a computer voice from it said, "Log Program Ready." Rogue looked around the area once more to confirm no one was there. She took another sigh and began the entry.  
  
  
  
"Mission Log number 274, Day 3. Since I didn't have time to put in an entry the last couple days, I'm doing it now while my target is busy with something."   
  
  
  
"Day One: To start things off, the orders from my Masters were to seek and destroy the Irken named Zim. They would not tell me why, but I have heard stories about this so called "Zim". Besides, I must be loyal to them."   
  
"Finding this planet, Earth, wasn't easy. It's practically on the other side of the universe! And to make things worse, my ship got damaged when I lost control of it and crashed just outside the city that my target is being posted at."   
  
"Although I survived the crash, my ship is tolled. When my assignment is done, I'm going to have to ask my Masters to send someone to get me."   
  
"Anyway, I began to observe the Earth people so I could program a good disguise for myself. I went with a simple "child" look, since my height seemed to match the height of the Earth young here. Speaking of disguises, my target's is lousy. He is lucky that the people on this planet are dense. His idea of camouflage is a black wig and fake looking contacts. He doesn't even bother adding a skin covering to hide his green."   
  
"I first encountered my target at what the Earth people call a skool, a place of study and learning for the Earth children. During the whole day, I had a couple good chances to do my job, but there was this one Earthling that kept getting in my way. I believe Zim called him "Dib". My target seems to know this child very well. Because of this, I decided to follow "Zim" to his home."   
  
"After I got passed the outside security, I spied on him until nightfall. Getting in was so easy, it was a joke. His SIR looks and acts like something from the scrap pile. I then lured my target to the sub basement of his home, were I got him into a pursuit. His SIR interfered at one point. But as it turned out, the target was a little more resourceful then I thought. I was forced to undergo plan B: Win the Target's Trust, Then Strike."  
  
  
  
"Day Two: I'm not sure how long it will take me to win my target's trust. I want to be 100% sure he would trust me with anything in his base or around him, helping me to finish what I came here for. One thing is for sure…he's just plain stupid."   
  
"His SIR, which he refers to as Gir, is truly bizarre. All he did today was sit in front of a huge monitor, and stared at a creepy looking monkey while eating [face turns purple] Earth food. I had to spend most of the day with that poor excuse for a SIR while my target worked in the lab. I kept telling myself that it's for the good of the assignment, but even as I think about it now, I could throw up…all that…UGH!"   
  
  
  
*Amem* "Day Three: As for today, it was slightly better. I believe Zim is on his way to putting more trust in me. He allowed me to help him with an experiment involving an Earth creature called a chicken. I sense it will not be long now…the sooner the better."   
  
"During the experiment however, that Earth child that interfered with me a couple days ago, tried to break in the target's base. I find that this Dib is not only determined on, I now found out, exposing Zim, but he's also very eccentric. I stayed inside the lab as Zim went to take care of the Dib child. I watch on a monitor to see my target and Dib yelling at each other and telling one another who will be the victor of their little war. As I watched, I wondered why didn't "Zim" just vaporized him right there. I've always been told if there is someone always in your way, get rid of them. I didn't bother asking my target why when he got back. It's not going to matter anyway when I…"  
  
  
  
Before Rogue could finish her last entry, the lab's elevator opened up and out came Zim.  
  
"What are you doing down in the lab, Rogue?" He asked. Rogue threw her wrist down and turned around to face Zim.   
  
"Nothing." She answered as truthfully as she could.  
  
"Nothing?" Zim said giving her a look.   
  
Rogue grit her teeth. "Can't I be alone for five minutes!?" She snapped.  
  
  
  
Zim's round eyes slightly grew as he was a bit taken back by her response. He looked at her for a brief moment. She stares angrily at him with her sharp eyes. He was going to reply with a comeback, but he suddenly, for some reason, noticed just how purple her eyes were. The way she looked right now…her shade of eye color was something he's never seen before in Irken eyes. He as never seen quite a hue before. They were deeper, darker, more…  
  
  
  
"Well?!" Rogue shouted waiting for his response.   
  
Zim all of a sudden was snapped back by Rogue's second verbal attack. He was just taken in by that purple, that deep color…  
  
'…What just happened??' The male Irken thought. He saw that Rogue was just about ready to explode at some point.  
  
"…Uh…sorry, I…" Zim tried not to sound weak or give hint as to what the heck just happened to him. "…I…forgot what I was gonna say…"  
  
Rogue's stare soften a bit, but she was still pretty ticked. "…You "forgot"…? …Fine…whatever."  
  
Unexpectedly, they heard an explosion coming from the kitchen.   
  
"THE MUFFENS ARE READY!!!" Gir screamed.   
  
Zim was now looking mad. "GIR!! NOT AGAIN!!" He ran to the elevator.  
  
  
  
As Zim went up to check what got damaged from Gir's cooking, Rogue just stood for a moment before reactivating her log. She finished the entry saying…  
  
"…I will say this…went this job is over, maybe I'll inform my leaders that I'll need a break. Being around this Zim and his messed up SIR is beginning to slowly drive me insane. Just now, for no real reason, he started to stare at me…looking at me like he was looking right THROUGH me…freak."  
  
"End entry."  
  
TBC………… 


	8. The Next Morning, AKA Skool

Chapter 7  
  
The Next Morning, AKA Skool  
  
Gir ran around the living room, screaming something about the tacos on the TV. He made an abrupt stop, reached into his robot head, took out a can of Poop (cherry flavor), and drank the whole thing in one gulp. He stood there for a moment before the sugar kicked in and started running around and screaming again. He's been doing it such six in the morning.   
  
  
  
Zim walked in covering where his ears would be because of Gir's noise. Rogue too walked in the same manner. As Zim made his way to the front door, he turned to see his SIR, who was now jumping up and down on the sofa.   
  
"Gir…GIR!" Zim yelled. Gir finally stopped hopping and looked at his master.   
  
  
  
"Gir, we're leaving for the "skool" now, so watch the base, got it?" Zim said. The little robot gave a cute little smile and said, "Oki Doki!" Zim once again shook his head and opened the door to leave.  
  
  
  
"Come Rogue, we're going to be late." He said walking out the door.   
  
The female alien stood for a moment and scowled. 'Man, I can't stand that SIR!' She thought looking at Gir as he began to bounce of the walls again. 'And I can't stand this planet much longer! That's it! I'm gonna get the job done tonight and get off this filthy mud ball!'   
  
  
  
Walking to the door and about to turn the knot, she felt something bean her on the back of the head, knocking her black headband loose. After readjusting it, she looked down to see an empty Poop can on the floor. She picked it up and immediately looked at Gir, who was now playing "Kick the Can" with his empty Poop cans.  
  
  
  
Now angrier, Rogue grit her teeth and made a fist, crushing the can. "Hey!" Gir paused and looked at her. "Watch where your kicking your trash, you worthless little tin runt!"   
  
  
  
"I hit you? I sorry." Gir said sincerely.   
  
  
  
"…Whatever." Rogue said coldly, flinging the crushed can on the floor. She began to head out the door again.   
  
  
  
'Awww…Master's new best friend not happy just like Master is not happy.' Gir said out loud. "OH! I know what do!" Reaching back in his head, he took out another can of Cherry Poop soda. "GIFT!"   
  
  
  
Rogue turned around and saw Gir now three inches away from her face with the soda can even closer. She jumped and backed away a few feet.  
  
  
  
" FER YOU!" Gir squealed. He slapped the can in Rogue's hand. "It's CHHHHERRY!"   
  
  
  
Rogue instantly gave a look of disgust. She couldn't stand watching Gir eat or drink Earth-based food, but now he's offering her some! "No way…" She responded. She gave the can back to Gir, almost throwing it back, and tried to get out the door again.   
  
  
  
The little robot looked like he was about to cry. "Aw…PLEEEZ? Just take a little sip!" Gir said inching closer to her with the can.   
  
  
  
"NO!" Rogue shouted. She was nearly out the door.  
  
  
  
"SIIIIP!! JUST A SIP! SIP! SIP! SIP! SIP! SIP! SIP! SIP! SIP! SIP!" Gir continued to say "sip" over and over really quick.   
  
  
  
Rogue couldn't believe the mess she was suddenly in, but if she didn't do something to shut Gir up, she felt that she would completely lose it   
  
"ALRIGHT! GIVE ME THAT!" She roared, swiping the can from Gir. "I'll take a "SIP", if it will make you BE QUIET!!"  
  
"YAAAY!!" Gir cheered.   
  
She looked at the can with a really revolted look on her face. She opened the can, and the "fizz" sound made her insides turn. She glanced down at Gir, who was watching she every second.   
  
'There is no possible way I'm really drinking this.' Rogue thought. 'I'll just 'pretend' to taste it.' She raised the opened can to her lips…   
  
  
  
"DO YA LIKE IT!?"   
  
Gir's hyper outburst made Rogue jerk, causing her fake tasting to backfire. Some of the cherry Poop splashed into her mouth.  
  
  
  
It took a second for Rogue to realize what happened. The fizz was already down her throat, and she felt for sure that she was going to be sick to her insides at any moment.   
  
"You ROTTEN…" She looked fiercely at Gir. She was ready to break him. But before she had the chance, it hit her…  
  
She wasn't gagging or throwing up. She stared down at the can, and this time, without any hesitation, took a real sip. Gir still stood there, anxiously waiting for Rogue's response.   
  
  
  
After taking a few more gulps, Rogue took the can away from her mouth. 'I don't believe it! This stuff is great!' She thought to herself. 'So…sweet and …cherry!' She then looked back at Gir, still waiting.   
  
  
  
'Ugh…I have to say something….' She thought. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Uh, yes…I like it, it's...okay."  
  
  
  
"YAAAAY! YOU'RE WELCOME!" Gir squealed. He skipped out of the room, heading towards the lab.  
  
  
  
Rogue just stood there of a moment, still holding the soda. She glanced around, guzzled down the rest of it, crushed the empty can with one hand, threw it over her shoulder, and bolted out the door to catch up with Zim.   
  
  
  
~ At the entrance of the skool, Zim was still waiting for Rogue, who was really running late. "WHAT is keeping her!?" He shouted out. He started pacing the ground when he finally saw her running up the sidewalk.   
  
Zim stopped and scowled. "Where were you, Rogue!? Skool-humans get suspicious if you are late for their day long droning!"   
  
Rogue ran up the skool steps and stopped in front of Zim, catching her breath. She quickly thought of an excuse. "That "SIR" of yours kept me." She said bluntly, not wanting Zim to know about the whole cherry soda thing. It was kind of embarrassing.   
  
Zim shook his head. "I should have known "GIR" had something to do with it. Lets go, we're running late as it is."   
  
  
  
~ "Now class..." Ms Bitters began, slithering in between the children's desks. "Today we'll be talking about how the "internet" will eventually turn YOU ALL into mindless zombies of DOOOOOM!!!!!!" She pauses and sucked in a deep breath. "Scientists say that visiting a certain place called FanFiction.net will enhance these mutations! Especially if you read RogueStar's or Aoi Jade's mind rotting works!!!! And further more...." Ms Bitters stopped in the middle of her VERY disturbing speech as Zim and Rogue came running into the classroom. Dib's normally large eyes grew wider at the sight of not Zim, but Rogue, the memory of the last time he encountered her was still fresh in his mind.   
  
  
  
Ms. Bitters looked at the two as they took there seats with her normal 'I'm not normal' glare. "You and Rogue are late, Zim." She barked.   
  
Zim looked up at the intimidating teacher and saluted stiffly. "Sorry Ms Bitters." He said in a rather military voice. Rogue looked at Zim, then to Ms Bitters and then to Zim again.   
  
"Pathetic..." She said in a low tone of voice.  
  
  
  
About an hour passed by and Ms Bitters was still drowning on about doom, the internet and the dangers of FanFiction.Net. Rogue, having a hard time keeping her cool, felt her patients growing thinner by the minute.   
  
"There was one incident where one child was sucked into the computer screen, and forced to live life among the internet windows! CURSE THOSE WINDOW MEDIA PLAYERS!!!!" Ms. Bitters head twitched a bit as she looked the class over, getting nothing but a mind numbing response. Rogue looked at her and twitched a bit herself before looking at Zim, who was sitting almost asleep in his chair.   
  
  
  
"Zim." She said in a low whisper. "ZIM" She said a bit higher. The Irken looked over at her and mouthed "what?" Rogue looked back at Ms Bitters, who has begun to move to the subject about wordpads on the desktop, and how they can eat you alive. Right then and there, Rogue lost it.  
  
  
  
"…Do we have to listen to this Vulture Woman's drowning voice ALL DAY LONG!?!" She yelled slamming her hands down on the table and shooting a glare at Zim. Zim winched at Rogue's rather unexpected anger. She looked at him, and just realized what she had done. Looking up, feeling a looming presence behind her, she saw Ms Bitters glaring down, with a hiss like snarl. However, the female Irken was not intimidated at all by the teacher.  
  
  
  
"ROGUE!" Ms Bitters hissed in a high pitched tone.   
  
"Yes?" She answered very innocently, yet sarcastic.   
  
"Were you listening like you're forced too!?" Ms Bitters asked.   
  
Rogue looked at Zim, who was signaling her to shut up, but she just looked back at the eerie teacher and leaned back in her chair. "Actually...No, I wasn't." She said flatly.   
  
  
  
Dib raised an eyebrow. 'She's telling Ms. Bitters off! Everybody's scared of this teacher…including me!' He thought. He noticed that Rogue had NO fear what-so-ever of his dark looking teacher. He glared at her, his paranormal senses suddenly kicking in once again.   
  
Rogue noticed him staring and looked directly back at him. That cold look in her eyes. Dib turned away as fast as humanly possible and brought his shoulders up to his neck. Her look still gave him the chills.  
  
  
  
"ROGUE!!!" Ms Bitters hissed again, gaining back the girl's attention.   
  
"WHAT?" She said in a sarcastic voice.   
  
"You will stay after class…in detention!" Bitters yelled, making it sound like she had sentenced Rogue to life…which was just about the same at that skool.   
  
Rogue looked at her with a slight look of confusion. 'Detention' wasn't in her vocabulary. "Okay..." She said slowly, "Whatever."   
  
Ms Bitters glared one more time and walked back up to the front of the classroom. She looked back at Rogue to see that she STILL wasn't paying attention.   
  
"ROOOGUE!!!!"   
  
Rogue looked at her again, but before Ms Bitters could say anything, the lunch bell rang. Ms Bitters tightened and started to rapidly twitch like she was going to explode. All of the students, happy at the show they had just seen, filed out of the classroom. Rogue was the last to leave the room, but before she did, she walked up to Bitters.   
  
  
  
"You know, you really shouldn't yell so much." She said with a small grin. "That vein sticking out in your neck? It can't be good for you..." She left the classroom.  
  
TBC........ 


	9. Decisions

Chapter 8  
  
Decisions  
  
  
  
The hallways of the skool suddenly filled up with kids, as they all jetted towards the lunchroom. However, as for Zim and Rogue, they took their time for two reasons: One, they both can't "eat" the food anyway, and two, Zim was lecturing Rogue about want she did back in the classroom.  
  
  
  
"Do you realize what you all most did back there?!" Zim shouted. Rogue glared at him and clearly showed that she could care less.   
  
"No…what?" She answered sarcastically.  
  
  
  
"You nearly almost exposed yourself to the enemy!" Zim shouted again.   
  
  
  
Rogue looked at Zim with a blank stare. "Expose myself? Ha! For your information, I have been on plenty of these kind of mission and assignments, so I KNOW what I'm doing. And just to let you know, if you were the only other person in that room at that time, I would have vaporized that droning human."  
  
  
  
Zim just gave her a look. "…I know you were send here you view my actions, BUT as the invader in charge of this planets fate, I order you to NOT do that again, EVER!. Its endangers my mission, and Gir gives me enough trouble already."   
  
  
  
With that said, the Irken walked ahead of Rogue going for the lunchroom entrance. He got to the door, then turned to look back at Rogue again, standing just about a feet away, staring at him with those sharp eyes of hers. He raised his nonexistent eyebrow, thought for a moment and said,   
  
"…You know, now that I think about it, if I WAS the only other person in the room at the time, I would have helped you vaporized the teaching human...she gets on my nerves as well." He then walked right into the lunchroom.   
  
  
  
The female alien stood where she was, cocked her head to the side and just thought for a moment.  
  
'It still makes me think...' She thought. 'He doesn't act like any of the other targets I ever faced. Why do the Tallest want him gone so bad? They could have told me the reason…' She shook the thought out of her mind.   
  
"No!" She said out loud. "I can't think that. The Masters said he has to go, then he HAS to go!" Then with a dark look, she added, "And he will go tonight…"  
  
  
  
~ The sound of kids eating and the smell for the human food nearly made Rogue sick as she followed Zim to the lunch line. She plugged her "nose" and held her breath as the lunch lady practically "thrown" the food on her tray. Zim glanced at her and remembered that is how he acted the first couple times with the human food.   
  
He lend over to her and whispered, "Breath through your mouth."   
  
Rogue, who couldn't hold her breath much longer anyway, took her fingers away from her nose and inhaled deep, making sure just to breath with her mouth so she didn't smell the food.   
  
  
  
As they started walking to the same empty table that Zim always sat at, just a couple tables away, Dib was at a table with his sister Gaz, who was playing her GameSlave, as usual. And, as usual for Dib, he had a lock-on stare on the two undercover aliens. The minute they took their seats, he pointed his finger at them.   
  
"See that? You see that, Gaz?" Dib said. Gaz didn't pay attention as Dib started rambling on again. "Rogue is sitting right NEXT to Zim! No one EVER sits next to Zim! Now you can't tell me that isn't the LEAST bit weird, right?! " Dib continued to keep talking and talking, and Gaz slowly started losing her cool.   
  
  
  
Back at Zim and Rogue's table, both Irkens pushed away their food trays with a disgusted look. They both glared around the room, watching all the other human children eat.   
  
"Filthy human worm babies." Both said at the same time. They suddenly glimpsed at each other with wide eyes…then just looked away.   
  
A few quiet minutes passed with just Zim and Rogue watching everybody else in the lunchroom. The male Irken started tapping his finger on the table, staring off into space. Rogue secretly peeked at him again, seeing the boredom in his face.   
  
'…Hmm…He doesn't have anything to do at human eating time, does he?" Rogue said to herself.  
  
"…Hey, you know what?" Zim suddenly said. Rogue's eyes perked, snapping out of her own little world there.  
  
"…What?" She answered.  
  
"…We invaders are given a SIR unit to help us in our missions…" Zim started. Rogue right away wasn't that much to listen, but let him continue anyway. "…And the reason only ONE is assigned to a planet is to spread out in the universe. …The Tallest were wise to let me in this SECRET mission, and I'm doing my best, my GREATEST to please them…but…"  
  
"…But what??" Rogue said.  
  
"…Perhaps things would go faster if I had help, not that I would need it, but as things go now these days…it's rather…NICE to have another Irken on this planet I hate so much. Another I can trust and talk to, you know?"   
  
  
  
Rogue was suddenly surprised to hear that. She has got Zim to finally put the trust she's been waiting for into her. But still…she wish she knew why Zim was wanted by the Tallest to be done away with...   
  
  
  
Meanwhile, Dib was still rambling on about Rogue, and Gaz just about had it. She grit her teeth and started to quiver with anger. She finally lost it when she grabbed and yanked Dib by his spiky hair, immediately making him shut up. She gave him a nasty glare and said, "Your yapping is making it VERY HARD for me to play my game, and I'm almost at the final level, so if you make me mess up, I WILL make the rest of your life a LIVING HORRENDOUS NIGHTMARE!"   
  
Dib was silence for the rest of lunch.  
  
  
  
~ After lunch, it was time for recess. A bunch of screaming kids came running out of the skool on to the skool's playground. Some headed for the jungle gym, others headed towards the kickball court.   
  
Rogue and Zim came walking on of the skool building. Rogue took a deep breath of fresh air, glad to be out of the foul smelling lunchroom. She stared at all the Earth children playing, showing a confused look in her face. 'I wonder why these "creatures" act so foolish around this time?' She thought to herself, not understanding the point of "recess".   
  
  
  
She turned to look at Zim, but he wasn't next to her anymore. Looking around the playground, she spotted him sitting on the bench, swinging his legs and watching the children with a glare. She then shrugged and made her way towards him. 'I better sit with him again, to keep the trust going…'  
  
However, she stopped when she noticed someone coming up from behind for him. It was Dib. The human quietly walked up behind Zim with something in his hand. It was a cup full of water.   
  
  
  
'What's the Dib child doing?' Rogue thought, not knowledgeable about what water does to Irken skin.   
  
With a smile on his face, Dib dumped the water on Zim. Rogue watched in shock as she witnessed burning steam coming off of the victim's green skin. Zim jumped from his sit, screaming in pain, and began running around the playground with the other kids watching and laughing.   
  
Rogue then turned and see Dib laughing harder then the rest of them. She turned back to Zim. He was now on the ground, on his back looking at the other kids. They just kept laughing.   
  
The female Irken's face when blank. She was suddenly confused. Should she start laughing too? Something was out of place. She thought she felt like she could start laughing, and be glad want Zim was going through, but, for some reason, all she could do was feel almost...sorry for him.   
  
Maybe its because Zim is a Irken, like herself. Seeing another one of your kind in pain was natural, right? But something then surfaced in her mind, something she remembered hearing a long time ago.  
  
*…Even at times, you might have to take a assignment that will involve your own kind. If the reasons are clear and logical, then you MUST do what the Tallests order. No exceptions.*  
  
"…But…I don't know all the reasons…" Rogue said to herself. "…Why does this other Irken have too…"  
  
The words of her "Masters" suddenly came to mind:   
  
"We have a new assignment for you to do, Rogue. If you fail us in anyway, well…you know what will happen, so DON'T mess up."  
  
  
  
"I will NEVER fail you." Those were the words she spoke after the Tallests said that. "…I can't fail this…I was born to serve them…I am their perfect fighter…one mistake…"   
  
Suddenly, the skool bell rang, causing Rogue to snap out of it. All the kids began to head towards the skool building. Zim came walking up, still giving off steam a bit, with a nasty scowl on his face. Rogue didn't say anything as he walked by. She shook off her thoughts and followed him in.   
  
  
  
~ The rest of the day went on like earlier, with Ms. Bitters freaky lectures. This time, Rogue made sure she didn't lose it like last time. By the time the final bell rang, Rogue was thankful to get out of there.   
  
Her and Zim got up and heading out the door when Ms. Bitters said, "ROGUE! Are you forgetting something?"   
  
Rogue was given detention, but it just so happens that Rogue didn't know want detention was. Zim walked out the door, but Rogue stopped just outside the entrance and looked at Ms. Bitters.   
  
  
  
"I've given you detention. Your staying here!" Ms. Bitters hissed.   
  
Rogue gave her a look. "I'm not staying here. I have things to do." Rogue said with no fear.   
  
  
  
"YOUR STAYING!!" Ms. Bitters shouted.   
  
  
  
"No." Rogue said blankly and headed right out the door. Ms. Bitters grit her teeth and gave out a loud growl. All the kids started cheering at Rogue's valor.   
  
"SILENCE!!!" Ms. Bitters shouted angrily. Everyone went quiet. "If this makes you think you can overpower me, your wrong!" She said all creepy like. "Rogue WILL get triple detention for that! Now all for you, beat it!"  
  
  
  
As all of the kids started heading out the classroom door, unknown to Zim and Rogue, the sky outside was starting to get dark with rain clouds…  
  
In the hallway, all the kids were running and screaming while Zim and Rogue just took their own sweet time to get out of the building. But one of the kids happened to run into Zim, knocking him on the floor. Rogue looked to see none other then Dib. And that push wasn't a accident. Dib stopped in front of them and glared at both aliens.   
  
Zim got back up, not surprised at all to see Dib standing there. "What do you want now, you smelly worm?!" He said shaking his fist at Dib.   
  
The human boy glared right back at Zim. "I've been watching you and Rogue here all day, and I can tell she is NOT human. I'm I right?" He looked at Rogue, who didn't care what he know about her. She just stared back at Dib blankly.   
  
"And what IF she was Irken then, uh? HM!?" Zim answered.   
  
"Oh, come on Zim! I can see RIGHT through her. She may have a WAY better disguise then you, with the fake colored skin and all, but I've notices some things." Dib said.   
  
"Like what?" Zim said sarcastically.  
  
"Well, for one thing, she can't eat the skool food." Dib said with a glare. " And second, I noticed something important on Friday. She doesn't have ears, just like you!" He said pointing at his own ears in effect. "And don't say its a skin condition, because it isn't!"  
  
Rogue clapped her hands in a slow and dull manner. "…Well done, human DIB, you seen to know a little more then the other life forms in this place." She said this in a rather disturbing way.  
  
"That's because I've KNOWN Zim was coming and I've been watching him ever since. That's why the planet isn't in attack or taken over." Dib said with a smile.  
  
"Yet, you mean" Zim said.  
  
"Oh, about the ear thing…" Rogue said. "…I could have added ears to my human look, but I didn't."  
  
"Why's that?" Dib asked.  
  
"They only make you humans even uglier."  
  
Zim immediately broke out laughing, while Dib just stood there with a sour face. Rogue then smiled at her nice comeback.  
  
"Laugh all you want, Zim. But from now on, I'd be careful if I was you." Dib said. "With two aliens I know about now, it only doubles my chances."  
  
"I'd like to see you try it, you hideous creature. Come, Rogue." Zim walked towards the skool entrance.   
  
However, as they headed for the door, Dib suddenly shouted out, "Oh, and Zim? You better get home, it looks like RAIN!"  
  
Zim stopped in his tracks then looked out the glass plated door. The sky was now pitch black, just waiting for a sudden deadly down pour. His eyes went wide at the really dark storm clouds.  
  
Rogue on the other, wasn't grasping the situation, since she didn't know what "rain" was. "What's the problem?" She asked Zim when she noticed his abrupt facial expression. Without saying anything, Zim ran out the door and started running down and on the sidewalk faster then Rogue would have figured he could go. With more confusion on her face, Rogue ran after him, shouting. "What is rain?!"  
  
It didn't take long before Rogue caught up with Zim, still running now in a panic pace. They were half way to Zim's house when the sound of thunder hit the sky, the signal that the RAIN was coming.  
  
"What is your problem?!" Rogue shouted in Zim's nonexistent ear. The male invader cringed but didn't answer. Rogue just about had it. "Fine then…I'll see you later." Saying that, Rogue displayed her natural yet usual speed and "flew" pass Zim, leaving him in her dust.   
  
Within seconds, Rogue was at Zim's door, placing her hand on the doorknob. But a second and louder sound of thunder stopped her. She finally looked up and noticed the black clouds. She didn't know what they meant, but she suddenly had a nasty chill go up her spine.   
  
"ROGUE!"   
  
Zim into the lawn and saw Rogue just staring at the sky. The rain then began to sprinkle down.  
  
"WATCH OUT!!" Before she who what hit her, Rogue was pushed inside the house, her body swinging the door open. When she opened her eyes, she saw Zim right above her.   
  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET OFF ME, YOU ROTTEN-" But her words were cut off when the rain started really down pouring. The door was still open, so both saw as the drops of water came down to the earth, already creating small puddles on the dirt and grass.  
  
"If we were out there any longer, the burns from that dreaded RAIN would have done us in for sure…" Zim said out loud.  
  
"…Rain can burn??" Rogue said, still on the floor. Zim got up and slammed the door close. He then turned to Rogue. "The one thing you should have known about Earth is water and rain. To humans, it's part of their lives, and they use it in many ways, but to Irkens, it's DOOM!"  
  
"…So…it's like acid…" Rogue now knew what Zim was hit with earlier that day. The sudden image of that came back, and without warning, she was hit with a odd feeling, a mix between pity and…something else, but she couldn't put it to words…  
  
"It's a good thing you didn't get wet. If the Tallest knew I let that happen to one of their…uh…what are you again?" Zim asked Rogue.   
  
Rogue's head shot up, knocking her out of another mental trance. "What? Oh, I help the Tallest with the checkups on other invaders, remember?" She said that, knowing it wasn't true, and for the first time…it didn't feel right to her.  
  
"Right! Say, did I get any extra points by getting you away from the rain??" Zim asked out of the blue. But before that was answered, the door swung open and Gir came skipping in all wet and blacken to a crisp. These drew attention of both Irkens.  
  
"Gir? Where have you been?" Zim asked.  
  
"Outside. IT'S RAINING!!" The robot answered, like it was the greatest thing in the world.  
  
"Yeees, it is, and what did we say about rain, Gir?" Zim asked, crossing his arms.  
  
"It's EVIL!" Gir said. "But watch THIS!!" He ran back outside and stood in the middle of the empty street and waited. In a few minutes, a flash of lightning come right down at stunk the SIR's little antenna, throwing Gir backwards and into a wall. He didn't move for a moment, then he jumped back up and when at it again. After about five to six times, he came back in, with Zim's say.   
  
~It was later that night when Zim was in the lab and Gir was now taking a nap in the couch in the living room upper base. The robot was still smoking from the lightning play, and smelled like burned fish. Zim INSISTED he stayed at upper base.  
  
In the quietness of the lab, Zim was typing away on his computer for various things, human and earth things. But what he didn't know was the location of Rogue at the time.  
  
In the wire and tube covered ceiling, the female alien was hiding in well shadowed conceal. It was the perfect time to do what she really came for. She had the perfect shot, the best view of Zim from behind, but the one thing she didn't have right then was the perfect state of mind.  
  
Questions were still floating around her head, questions she didn't bother asking herself till now. She always felt that she should know as much information about her jobs before she did them, but for a while now, she never even dared asking her Masters of such things.   
  
There were a few missions she knew inside and out about, like one that involved a possible planet good for the empire that was one invader short for Impending Doom 2. She handle it with ease, but since then, many if not all of her jobs were very hush-hush, even to her.  
  
"Why don't the Tallest tell me everything…" Rogue whispered to herself. "…Could they be hiding something? Why would they do that, I am their most trusted fighter!" She continued this solo conversion in her head…  
  
'Not asking questions and doing what I'm being told is something I've been doing for all my life! Why would this start bothering me now?! …I swore that I'd never go back on their word, even if it meant my life. I HAVE to follow their orders! If not…'  
  
She thought about the power they had over her, yet another thing she never let trouble her…but…  
  
'…they'll have me killed and deleted.'  
  
Rogue silently raised her arm and aimed at Zim with gems slowly warming up. This was it, the moment and reason she came to this filthy planet. One shot, that's all it will take, then these questions and useless wondering will disappear from her mind, right?  
  
However, one last thing came back to haunt her.  
  
'…Did he…save my life?'  
  
Back with the rain. The amount that was coming down then. If Rogue in it for just a few more seconds, the heavy downpour could have most likely burned her to the bones. And Zim, he jumped right in just in time. He could have been caught in the rain too, but he risked it. He knew what it was, and that's why he was so scared running home.  
  
'Does any of that manner now?!' Rogue yelled in her own mind. 'He doesn't even KNOW he saved me, that idiot! He's the most thickheaded, most self-thinking Irken I've ever met! Maybe THAT'S why the Tallest what him dead!'  
  
Rogue stopped in her one person conversation. Was that it? Because of the what Zim is? His actions and somewhat half thought ideas? Is that grounds for death?  
  
'…He's a fool…but he doesn't even know it…'  
  
Then it happened again, that unnamed mixed feeling that hit Rogue twice already today. One part of it was some breed of pity, which didn't do well with Rogue in the first place. Feeling pity was a sign of weakness, as she was told many times before. But there was something else in there. Something was holding her back from powering up her laser all the way and firing that fatal shot.  
  
She finally surrendered to herself and lowered her weapon. She hung her head down with shame.  
  
"…I can't…do it."  
  
TBC……… 


	10. Resurfaced Memories

Chapter 9  
  
Resurfaced Memories   
  
The very next morning, Zim was all set for Skool. He marched into the living room where Gir was sitting on the floor, watching the T.V. A few minutes later, Rogue gradually walked in the room, passing Zim, but not saying anything.   
  
She could not stop thinking about what happened last night. She was so confused and upset all at once. For the very first time in her life, she wasn't sure what to do. She had never encountered a situation like this before.   
  
In her mind, the same question kept coming back to her, more puzzling then before, 'Why? Why couldn't I kill him?'  
  
Zim observed Rogue and her sudden odd behavior as she headed to the door. He raised his nonexistent eyebrow.  
  
Before going to open the door, Rogue just rested her forehead on it and sighed deeply. "…I wish I didn't have to go to that "Skool" thing today." She said out loud, forgetting that Zim was in the same room.   
  
"If you want, you don't have too."  
  
"Huh?" Rogue said turning her head to look to Zim. "What do you mean?"  
  
Zim walked up to Rogue and opened the door for himself. "You can stay here for today. Besides, I feel better when someone I know is watching the base for me."  
  
"…But…doesn't you're SIR…?" Rogue started, and then stopped, knowing the answer to that one already. "…Ok…but what if they ask where I am?"  
  
"I'll tell them you're sick." Zim answered.  
  
"Sick??" Rogue said.  
  
"When human children don't want to go the Skool, that call in sick." Zim explained. "I do that whenever I have too much work to do here."  
  
"Oh…alright." Rogue said, not quite sure what to say.  
  
Before Zim left, he whispered to Rogue, "And whatever you do, if Gir says anything about playing with the weasels, tell him I said NO!"  
  
Rogue shot one heck of a confused expression. "…Ok?"  
  
~A few hours passed since Zim left, and the whole time, Rogue just sat on the living room couch, her head so full of more questions then answers. The more she reflected on last night's circumstances, the more she couldn't bring up a correct answer. It was too…weird for her.  
  
"*sigh*…I'm so confused!" She said.  
  
"Really? I do that too!"  
  
Rogue's head shot up to see Gir staring at her on the floor. She forgot he was still there. He's BEEN there the whole time. She just gave a sour look and turned the other way. But that didn't work as Gir then got on the couch and got right in her face.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Rogue shouted. She jumped off the couch and started backing up, but Gir just followed her. "Stop that! It's annoying!"  
  
The little SIR did stop, but then showed the most pitiful face Rogue has ever seen. It was enough to have the guise on Rogue's face change to perplex.  
  
"…When Master isn't here…I get lonely…" Gir said.  
  
Rogue grit her teeth, grumbled something under her breath, and turned to walk away.  
  
"DON'T LEAVE MEEE!!!" Gir shrieked, and glomps Rogue from behind. That was enough for her. She violently swung around, causing Gir to let go and hit the wall in the nearby kitchen.  
  
"WHAT IS YOU'RE PROBLEM!?" Rogue yelled. "What kind of SIR acts like this? Why doesn't that Zim just-"  
  
But Rogue's harsh words were cut short by the sound she next heard. Peeking in the kitchen, there was little Gir, sitting in the floor, crying his metal blue eyes out.  
  
Rogue was at a complete lost for words. She has never seen a SIR unit response like this in anyway. How could something "made", not born, display sad emotions? That kind of thing wasn't designed for Retrieve Units…  
  
At this sudden state, a long forgotten memory sparked within Rogue's mind. The way Gir looked back at her with his crying face, reminded her of…  
  
(Note: Flashback from Rogue's POV.)  
  
'It was one of my biggest missions yet! I was given the chance to single-handedly wipe out a planet of its life for the Empire, a task which is normally for invaders only. My leaders said it would be a great way to test my full power to them. I was ready to make them proud of me…  
  
When the day came, I was given my orders, told where the planet was, and that was all. I got in my Voot and flew to my prime target, a huge planet full of blue colored flora and other forms of planet life. I was also told that there was a race living there, and if possible, I was to take a few of them for potential slaves on the other Irken invaded planets. That might get me some good points…  
  
I landed on the planet and took a minute to look around. It was a forest area, with plants in their full bloom. I knew I wasn't there to check out the landscape, I had a different job.  
  
I got right to work, blasting away all the vegetation and foliage I could find, burning it to the ground, and clearing the way for the Empire's new planet. I got the whole thing cleared within less then a few hours, but there was still more to be done.  
  
I knew I could never get a full Organic Swipe done barehanded, so I started using one of my laser's features, my Pulse Cannon. By combining and fusing both my hands and gems, I doubled my laser's powers and could burn off more ground.  
  
As I went on, I saw the first few people that inhabited the planet. They were beast-like and looked uncultivated. As I wondered weather or not any of them would make reasonable slaves, I suddenly got a direct call from the Tallest themselves, the transmission build into my arm.  
  
They asked me how I was doing. I answered them, and then told them about the life forms I have discovered there. They had called to give me a new order: Wipe out all the life, including the beast creatures.  
  
I was…rather surprised by this command, and asked why. They just say that if they wanted it, then I mist to it, no questions asked. I nodded. Still confused about it, I shut the transmission off.  
  
The rest of the job…I had a weird feeling I the pit of my guts. Maybe I shouldn't have thought of a sudden change of plans as strange, but for some reason, I couldn't shake it off. I…never really felt like that before…  
  
At the finally stretch, you might say, I had made it to the last remaining settlement of the planet's people. So far, I have wiped out every thing that was in my way. A thought then stuck me…this was the first time I was told to kill off so many living breathing things. But…it didn't feel like what I thought it would be…I didn't like it…  
  
I went into the area, blasting everything to cinder, trying not to hear the animal-like screams coming from last living beasts of this planet. It was starting to become unbearable, I was losing my focus.  
  
Then…I saw it. I child of the planet's race, huddled in the corner of what used to be the side of a building. I horrifying thought crossed my mind…I had to get rid of all of them…no questioned asked. I had to…kill all of them…by the order of my leaders…  
  
I felt sick. I wasn't enjoying this at all, I wanted to stop, but I had already gone too far. If I didn't get it done now, I was willing to end it for myself right there.  
  
My body went tight; I had to force myself to raise my arms. I formed my Pulse Cannon again. I shut my eyes, feeling the tears bleeding through, I had to...I didn't want to…I fired the biggest blast I could perform…  
  
Later…when I was back on Irk and waiting for the Tallest's clarification, I was in the state of numbness. I couldn't believe what I just did…that wasn't a job for an invader…it was for a blood craving madman. What were the Tallest testing me for? What do they really what from me!?  
  
They hovered into the area where I waited for them; they had a somewhat odd smile on their faces. I just looked up then bowed down on one knee, as I was a custom to do.  
  
The words they told me next were like a hot laser through my chest…  
  
"…Excellent job, Rogue…you better get used to it…"  
  
(End of Flashback)  
  
Coming back to the present, back from a memory the female Irken had kept locked away from so long that she herself had forgotten about it, Rogue suddenly fell to her knees, her eyes wide and filling with tears.  
  
"…I…I forgot…that day…all those lives…" She was in a state of personal shock, forgetting that Gir was watching her as the tears feel from her face. "..I didn't…never wanted to take this job…but the Tallest…they…"  
  
"They what?" Gir asked. He was back in her face like before, snapping Rogue out of it. She jumped back and stared at Gir, who wasn't crying anymore, but still, seeing his sad face just brought it all back.  
  
'…I was so willing to do anything for them…' Rogue thought. '…that was when I took the job as an Irken secret assassin. At first, it was a struggle everyday, it got to the point where I had to lie to myself saying I liked this, that I loved it…and…I guessed it worked…for a time being…'  
  
"Are you ok??" Gir asked with big eyes.  
  
Rogue didn't want to answer that. Of all times, such a painful recalling had to resurface in her mind, the beginning of her curse to service the Tallest.  
  
"…Why?" Rogue mumbled out. Gir cocked his head to the side. "…Why don't I stop this? Why don't I just stop what the Tallest tell me to do?"  
  
*We will dispose of you if you refuse or fail us…*  
  
Another statement from the past. The reason for this madness was simple: kill on order, or be killed if declined.  
  
Rogue finally stood up, her face in a blank expression. The feeling in her body was going again, the same numb feeling she had when this whole thing started. She looked back down at Gir, staring away at her. Without another word, she walked passed the SIR and over to the kitchen trashcan. She opened it, jumped inside, and rode the secret elevator down to the lab.  
  
'I can't escape this…I caused this to myself…' Rogue thought as she stood in the elevator. '…And I have to finish what I came here for.'  
  
The doors opened and she stepped out into the main computer area of Zim's lab. She gazed up at the huge screen. There was still the matter of last night…  
  
'…I can't stop thinking about it…I have to know more about this Zim!'  
  
Kneeling down and opening a metal panel under the computer monitor, she peeked inside and examined all the different wires and circuits. When she found what she was looking for, she reached her cybrogic arms inside and started messing with the wiring. A few tweaks and so did the trick, she hacked into the computer's main data bank.  
  
The screen flashed on and display numerous files and information, most of it basic stuff; Facts and details about the Earth, the humans, and so on. But Rogue's plan was slightly more complex then what was on screen.  
  
"Alright, now for the real hacking…" Reaching back in and yanking out some of the important wires, she looked down at her hands to perform another one for her talents. Both gems elevated out from their metal sockets, exposing Rogue's personal array of cables and circuits. Taking the correct wires from the computer, she carefully hooked them up to her hands.  
  
The monitor made a quick buzz noise, and the computer's voice suddenly boomed in the room. "WARNING! WARNING! UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS!!"  
  
But with a tweak or two, the com voice began to slowly die out and disappear. She had full control now.  
  
"Ok…" A small sweat drop fell from her forehead as she started to search through hundreds of data, some of which Zim may have not known about. Being completely connected to the CPU, Rogue was able to speed read through anything she came across, like a program going through system check. Yet another gift she had.  
  
"…I'm not finding what I want…" She stopped for a moment to think for herself. '…Maybe…I could use this connection to…'  
  
Plan B. With total control at her fingertips, she proceeded to do even more hacking, this time, using the computer to open a link to another data bank, the main Irken Information Mainframe, or I.I.M. back on Irk.  
  
It wasn't an easy task to do. It took a good half hour, and after running into plenty of safety measures, she was finally in.  
  
"Alright…search for…Invader Irken Zim." She thought this out loud as she scrolled down countless names and ranks in the invader files. Her eyes were moving at a fast pace speed, but to her surpirse, nothing came up. "…That's strange…there should be something on him…"  
  
Out of curiosity, she redid her search, this time not adding the word, "invader". That hit the jackpot.  
  
"…What the…" Reading through the info on this one Irken, Rogue's eyes got bigger and wider the more she went on down the list of things and event's that have happened in the past thanks to Zim's actions. There was the time roughly 85 to 90 years ago went all the power on Irk just shut down for a few years tops, and then the same thing repeated itself a short time later for even a few more years. Smaller blunders flashed on the screen, some that, on their own, wouldn't be that much of a problem, but there were just so many of them…  
  
Then, the BIG ones came into Rogue's view, the ones that seemed to top them all.  
  
"…Responsible for the untimely death of both…" Rogue's eyes went as large as they could go. "…Miyuki and Spork!?"  
  
She had to stop right there. That was the last straw, she couldn't read anymore. "…He did ALL of this…and they have not done ANYTHING to stop him?! …Then what is he doing on this planet, in the middle of nowhere?"  
  
The Tallest have not informed Rogue about a few other things about Zim, like the fake misson they gave him to see if they could be rid of him for good. With what she knew right then, her decision seemed clearer.  
  
"…He HAS to be destroyed!"  
  
Just then, Rogue's long antenna's could hear the sound of a door slamming in the upper level, and then the sound of Gir welcoming someone. "…He's back." She worded. "I'll finish this now!"  
  
TBC……… 


	11. Lies

Chapter 10  
  
Lies  
  
With her antenna's twitching, Rogue stood her ground waiting for Zim to come down to the lab by elevator. She could not take what she had read on the computer's screen much longer. The rage that was bubbling up inside began to over shadow her focus.  
  
"…You low life scum…!" She hissed out, like he was already standing there.  
  
The sound of the lab's elevator caused Rogue to tense up even more. By now, she had forgotten just why she came all the way to Earth; her anger had taken a sturdy hold on her. All that she wanted to do right then and there was to see Irken Zim die by her own hands…  
  
The doors finally opened. Zim quietly stepped out; breathing a sigh after a normal human Skool day, then saw Rogue standing in front of him. He didn't think anything of it at first.  
  
"…What?" He worded out. He could see she was anger about something. Her face looked scorned from all angles. She didn't say anything to him at first. After a moment looking back at her, he shrugged and began to make his way pass her.  
  
"…You…" Rogue mumbled. Zim turned back around.  
  
"Eh? What was that?" He asked.  
  
"…You…" She looked back at him; her features grew scary in the eyes of the invader. "…murderer…!"  
  
Before Zim could react to that comment, Rogue nailed a lightning fast jab to his jaw. He fell to the floor, holding his face and bewildered. "ROGUE! What is the meaning of-?"  
  
"SHUT UP!!" She screamed. Her voice echoed through the lab. "You KILLED them! It was you!"  
  
"WHAT?!" Zim scrambled back to his feet just to avoid another power punch. Rogue's metal fist plowed into the floor, bending and warping it. The hit would have killed Zim if he was under it. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"  
  
Rogue didn't answer. She just mercilessly continued to go after him. Each swing was getting harder and more anger induced by the minute. Finally, one punch connected and Zim went flying across the floor, slamming into the side of a glass tube that was mounted into the wall. The fluid inside busted free and splashed over Zim. He stumbled back up just to see Rogue coming after him again. He ducked low and she landed on the broken glass.  
  
Zim ran a few feet away from the Irken psycho and watched her get back up to her feet. There were a few cuts on her face from the glass, but her rage was the same.  
  
"Hold on a min-" That was all Zim could get out before she started another bout. She ran and lunged toward Zim, knocking him to the floor. She grabbed him by his uniform with one hand and was gearing for another attack with her other, this time the laser.  
  
"WAIT!!" Zim shouted. "What did I do?! …Is this another test?"  
  
Rogue halted for a moment. "…There isn't any TEST…"  
  
"UH?!" Zim cocked an invisible eyebrow.  
  
"…At first, I was just doing my job…" Rogue said. Her tone of voice was low and almost soulless sounding. "…But this…you really are a low life! You are the reason Tallest Miyuki and Tallest Spork are dead!"  
  
Those names caused a cold chill go up Zim's spine. "…Aaaah…why would you say something like that?" His voice couldn't hide it, he was absolutely terrified now.  
  
"Don't TRY to confuse me! I've read your record, and you're anything BUT clean!" Rogue said. "You were the reason for the major power failures on Irk, and all kinds of other downfalls! But the deaths of two Tallest…" Her fist began to shake. "…It's a wonder why they haven't dealt you yet!"  
  
"Wait…my record??" Zim said. "…I have a record?"  
  
"…You are SO stupid…" Rogue snarled. "I hacked into the I.I.M. system and found out anything about you!"  
  
"I.I.M.??"  
  
" 'Irken Information Mainframe', you IDIOT!!" She screamed in his face. "It's only for the eyes of advisers, control brains, and the Tallests, but I had the means to hack into it…"  
  
"You DARE do that behind the Almighty Tallest's back!" Zim shouted. "An act like that has to be a violation of higher rights!"  
  
Rogue was quiet for a moment. "…After I'm done here, it shouldn't matter…I was sent by the Tallests to kill you, Zim…and now I know why…"  
  
"… … …What?" Zim said. His eyes widened.  
  
" To. KILL. You." She repeated.  
  
"…LIER!!" Zim yelled. "I was assigned to this planet by the Tallest to-"  
  
"Invade?" Rogue finished. "…That's a laugh. When I looked up your info, you weren't any where here the "invader" list, Zim. If what you say is true, I'm betting they did that just to be rid of you…"  
  
"…" Zim just stayed silence.  
  
"…Although…I don't know why they didn't just deal with you a long time ago…" Rogue said. "…But I'll have the honor to do it myself."  
  
The gem on her free arm started to glow. "…This is for all your crimes!"  
  
Frozen with fear, Zim watched as the shine on the gem grew brighter and brighter. He swallowed hard; it was the first time encountering Rogue all over again. But this time it didn't look like there was a way out…  
  
The seconds ticked by like minutes to Zim. Everything he just heard, he still didn't want to believe it. The Tallest have sent him to this far off planet, not to prove his worth as an invader, but to get rid of him? That just can't be right! But…the more he tried to tell himself that this could all just be some kind of nightmare, or maybe just a sick joke, the heat from Rogue's powering gem shot him back to cold reality.   
  
Everything he has done suddenly started coming back to him…everything. And all those things…ended in catastrophe or death for someone else. But that wasn't his fault; they just got in the way! It was their fault! …Or was it? He just wanted to prove himself to his leaders. They didn't really hate him, did they? It can't be…   
  
'…Maybe they…' He thought. "…NO!! IT'S A LIE!!" Zim shouted.  
  
"Will you shut up!?" Rogue said. "I just what to finish this and get back!" Her laser was ready to fire. "Say goodbye, ZIM."  
  
But just as the laser was about to be fired, a low buzzing sound broke the air. Zim opened his shut tight eyes and looked at Rogue. It was coming from her other arm, a transmission signal.  
  
"…It must be them." Rogue said. Her gem powered down and she answered it.  
  
"Them?" Zim said, still being held down by Rogue's strength.  
  
Two familiar voices spoke from Rogue's build in transmitter. It was the Tallests.  
  
"Rogue! You there?" Purple's voice boomed first.  
  
"Yes." She answered.  
  
"Are you done with Zim yet? Is he dead?" Purple asked.  
  
That comment hit Zim like a bullet in the head.  
  
Tallest Red's voice then came through. "Let me see that! …Rogue, are you almost done there"  
  
Rogue glared over at Zim who was in a dumbfounded state. She smiled and answered, "Yeah, I should be on my way back within a matter of days, my Almighty Tallest."  
  
"Excellent, that's good news." Red said. "We'll be waiting for your return."  
  
"I can't wait." Rogue said out loud with a smile. "Now…where was I?" She pointed her laser back down at Zim. Again, it began to glow. "I was giving you your long awaited punishment…any last words?"  
  
Zim had nothing to say. He just heard it with his own ears, the Tallest asking if he was dead, and hoping he was. They hated him that much. To them, he wasn't an invader, just a burden. Or more like; he wasn't an invader, but just a constant accident waiting to repeat itself over and over and over again. Within a matter of moments, his spirit was shattered. He had nothing to say…  
  
But again, something delayed his doom. Rogue forgot to shut off her transmitter.  
  
"…Hey, just what are we gonna do when that psycho weapon comes back?" Purple's voice came up.  
  
"I think we've used her enough…" Red said.  
  
Rogue stopped immediately and turned her attention to the open voice line. "…What?"  
  
"…After what we've seen…" Red continued, "…I think we better stop it before anything gets out of hand. Rogue is a powerful fighter."  
  
You mean a weapon, or cybrog." Purple said. "You can't put her in the same category as a living thing, right? She might LOOK like it, but she isn't."  
  
"Yeah…and I'd hate to see what would happen if she rebelled." Red said.  
  
'What?!' Rogue thought. She was keeping her mouth shut so they couldn't hear her. But while she had her full attention in another place, Zim had already got up from the floor and was hiding in the ceiling wiring. The conversion continued…  
  
"With her power, she could easily overthrow us! No power should exist like that…" Red said. "So…any ideas?"  
  
"We could say she did something, liiike…tried to attack us or something." Purple said. "Then we'll have grounds to a trial, and then-"  
  
"The control brains would see right through that!" Red said. "Maybe we could set up an accident?"  
  
"That might not work… Rogue can live through a lot of different things…we've seen that."  
  
"Whatever we do, we better think of something good. It was fun using her power, but I think we better stop while we're ahead. After Rogue is done with this one problem, she will have served her purpose."  
  
Rogue finally shut the transmitter off. "… … … …"  
  
Up in the wires, Zim's heart was pounding a hundred miles an hour. Fear still had a grip on him, but he still couldn't believe what he had heard. What was he going to do now? There was a crazy Irken assassin just below him and he couldn't move without her hearing him. And now…he couldn't call the Tallest for help or for anything else for that matter. …They wouldn't care.  
  
"Why…?"  
  
Zim's antenna's twitched. He peeked down at Rogue who seemed to be just standing that with her eyes staring downward.   
  
"…Why would they do that?" She said in a low tone. "…What does that make me then? What does it make me to them? …A weapon? A robot?"  
  
'What's going on?" Zim thought. Taking a chance, he moved a bit to the side, trying to get a better look of her face, but he couldn't. All he could make out was that she was mumbling something to herself.  
  
"…I can't go back." Rogue said out loud. "…I can't…or they'll just kill me…"  
  
"Eh?" Zim was confused. Just a minute ago, she was ready to blow his head off. He jumped from the ceiling and landed behind Rogue. She turned around to face him, causing Zim to back away really quick. But now, she didn't seem vengeful anymore.  
  
She just looked at Zim with blank eyes. "…I can't…go back. They'll kill me."  
  
Zim made a resentful face. "And do you think I care now? You were just trying to kill me! ME!"  
  
"…And even if I still did so, it wouldn't matter…" She said.  
  
Zim didn't understand that one. "…Are you sure this wasn't all just a test?"  
  
Rogue's face changed quickly. "NO, YOU USELESS ORGAN BAG!!" She placed her hands on her forehead, gritting her teeth and growled. "…You are the MOST stupidest Irken I've ever met, you know that?!"  
  
"Zim is not a useless bag of organ! I am MIGHTY!" He shouted.  
  
"WAKE UP! Didn't you hear what I said!? What the TALLEST said?!" Rogue shouted back. "YOU are not even an INVADER!!"  
  
"… …"  
  
"What in the world made you think you were one of the Invaders anyway?" Rogue asked. "There are things you did that are counted as some of the worst Irken historical disasters! You're UNSTABLE fer crying out loud!"  
  
"SHUT UP!!" Zim yelled. "I was only trying to prove myself! To the Tallest, and to the entire Irken race!!"  
  
"By causing blackouts, ruining events, and killing TWO past Tallest?!" Rogue said. "WHAT is wrong with you?!"  
  
"What's wrong with YOU?!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"One minute you were ready to kill me, and the next, your not!" Zim said.  
  
"…Why would you ask that? You should be glad I didn't kill you." Rogue said with an odd look.  
  
"When an Invader is willing to destroy something-"  
  
"YOU ARE NOT AN INVADER!!!"  
  
There was a period of silence between them. Looking intently at each other, they both sported an irritated scowl.  
  
"…Fine." Rogue finally said. "If you don't want to believe it, then fine…" She began to walk pass him then stopped. "…Not being smart enough to know the true must be a good thing…"  
  
"What is that suppose to mean?!" Zim said.  
  
Rogue sighed. "…You really are an idiot."  
  
Before Zim could come up with a comeback to that, the elevator doors opened up and Gir came trotting out with a bowl of something in his hands. It was all black and didn't smell good at all. Rogue turned her head toward the SIR and got a sniff of whatever it was. Her complexion when pale and she made a nauseous face.  
  
"I MADE something!" Gir cheered. "I don't know what it is, but I MADE IT!! Want some?" He stuck the bowl in his Master's face, which caused Zim to back away and look ill.  
  
"NOT NOW, GIR!" Zim shouted loudly. Gir just looked back on him, a little confused. Master wouldn't get that loud over unnamed foodstuffs in a bowl that Gir made for him. The robot cocked his head to the side.  
  
"…And you!" Zim pointed to Rogue. "If you're not gonna kill me, then leave! Get out of here!" He walked into the elevator and went up into the house, leaving Rogue alone with his SIR.  
  
Gir gazed up at Rogue who just watched as Zim left the lab. "…Maybe he does know better." She said.  
  
"Are you really leaving?" Gir suddenly asked. Rogue looked at him. He had that sad little face on again. "…Don't go…please? Me give you this, and you won't go!" He raised the bowl. Rogue declined.  
  
"Go? Go where?" Rogue said. "I go back to the Tallest, and they'll kill me, weather I did my job or not." She hung her head and stared at the cold metal floor. Her mind resided as a blank. She didn't know what to do…  
  
Up in the house level, in the kitchen, another Irken sat at the table, staring at the ceiling. Zim's mind was anything but blank though. Again, he was thinking of all the things that he was involved in that ended in disaster for some one else. Most of them would pretty miniature compared to the whole Miyuki and Spork thing. And the blackouts were accidents too, but still, things like that can't go without thinking about it forever. In fact, Zim had never really reflected on any of them.  
  
"…All that I do…something happens." Zim said to himself. "…But I don't mean it!" He slammed his head on the table, along with his fist. "… But I'm not useless…I'm NOT! NOOOT!!"  
  
"Will you just shut up?"  
  
Zim jumped out of the chair and spun away to see Rogue. Gir was behind her as well.  
  
"I could hear you screaming to yourself from down there." She said. "So…you really ARE smart enough to know that you've been lied to by our own leaders?"  
  
Zim stared at her for a second before returning to the table, not reposing to that question. Rogue walked over to the other side and sat on the other chair, then looked at him right in the eye.  
  
"You're just as stubborn as you are dense…" She said.  
  
"…Why are you still here?" Zim asked. "I ordered you to leave. GET OUT!"  
  
"Where would I go?" She said. "I'm guessing you didn't hear it, but the Tallest said they are going to dispose of me once I go back."  
  
"…And why are you telling me this?" Zim asked. "Because you didn't kill me yet? …IS THAT IT?!" He jumped on the table and got in her face. "I'm willing to fight back this time!"  
  
"Sit down, will you?" Rogue said in a fairly calm tone. "That's not it, alright? Weather I finish my job here or not, the Tallest will kill me when I return! I heard the whole thing!" Her fist started to shake. "If you think about it, we are now in the same boat."  
  
"Same boat??" Zim said. He sat back down. "What boat?"  
  
"What I mean is we both know we were not only lied too by the Tallest, but also we've been lead to believe we are more them what we are to them." Rogue answered. "…The cases are different, but the concept is the same, right?"  
  
After thinking of it, Zim slowly nodded his head. "…Yees…YES! You're right!" He hopped down to the ground. "So why are we just lofting around here?!"  
  
"What??" Rogue said with a look. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"If we have the same problem, then by joining forces, we might just get what we want!" Zim said, and Rogue still was in the dark as to what he was blabbing about.  
  
"I WANT A CHEESEDOG!!" Gir unexpectedly screamed out.  
  
"Later, Gir! We are gonna go on a little trip!" Zim said, sounding excited.  
  
"A trip?" Rogue said.  
  
"To meet the Tallest and settle this once and for all!"  
  
TBC……… 


	12. Preparations

Chapter 11  
  
Preparations  
  
The room got deadly quiet after Zim had announced his plan. Rogue, still sitting at the table, just stared aimlessly at the Irken for what seemed like a long period of time before voicing her opinion.  
  
"…That…is the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say."  
  
"WHAT?!" Zim screamed back. "How dare you! What makes you think-?"  
  
"Its just DUMB!" Rogue interrupted. She jumped off the chair and got into his face. "Not to mention suicidal!"  
  
"UH?" Zim uddered.  
  
"Do you know what the Tallest would do if they saw you NOW?" Rogue said. "They would most likely KILL you on the spot. They think you're dead already…"  
  
Zim was silence for a moment. "…I don't get it."  
  
Rogue growled under her breath. "I was send HERE to KILL you, remember? But I DIDN'T kill you, so if they saw you now…get it?!"  
  
"Then they would be anger at you, not me." Zim said, pointing his finger in Rogue's face.  
  
"That doesn't matter. They would be ticked at BOTH of us!" She said. "If I were you, I'd never show my face to them again…"  
  
Zim crossed his arms and walked into the living room, thinking to himself. Rogue didn't even bother to ask him what he was ploting now. She felt that it wouldn't matter anyhow. She stood in the kitchen doorway and watched him pace back and forth on the floor, now mumbling to himself.  
  
'…He's so dease." Rogue thought. 'What make him think that he even has a chance with the Tallest…? …Idiot.' This got her thinking about her own problem. '…I have a better chance with them then he does…'  
  
Suddenly, Zim stopped and grinned widely. Rogue looked at him with a peculiar expression.  
  
"YOU!" He pointed toward Rogue.  
  
"ME??" She said, more puzzled. "What about me?"  
  
"YOU have all that firepower! I told you before, lets join forces! YES! It's foolproof!" Zim rubbed his hands together, smiling more.  
  
But Rogue wasn't that happy with that request. "…Ok, one, I don't want to team up with you, and two, I would like to settle my own problems on my own, thank you." She said "thank you" with a cynical way.  
  
"You WILL join me!" Zim said.  
  
"You can't make me!" She shouted back. "You KNOW I can still kill you…and it won't be for the Tallest…" She gave him a death glare. "I'm warning you…DON'T cross me…"  
  
Zim considered that and kept his mouth shut. The female assassin started to make her way to the front door, but then stopped. Without even thinking, she looked back at Zim, and the moment when he saved her from the lethal rain came flying back in her mind.  
  
'…He doesn't even know…' She thought. '…Should I tell him? …Nah, I'd be wasting my breath…'  
  
She placed her hand on the door knob and was about to turn on her human look, but again, something stopped her midway.   
  
'…I go back…the Tallest will get rid of me… If I leave now and never go back…I'll be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life…' She shook her head, trying to get the thoughts out, but it didn't work. Zim's selfcentered request was starting to look more and more inviting.  
  
"…Ugh…" She turned around and faced Zim. With a heavy sigh, she answered, "…I know I said you can't force me to join you, but…the circumstances look grim for me too. …I'll agree with this plan, but if ANYTHING goes wrong, you are on your own. I don't care what happens to you…"  
  
"…EXCELLENT!!" Zim cheered. "Together, we'll face our new enemy, and taste the sweet revenge!"  
  
Rogue sighed. 'I wonder if me even caught what I said at that last part…'  
  
"GIR! Get in here!" Zim said. The little SIR tottered in, fell on his face, but got right back up and saluted to his Master.  
  
"YES, MY LORD!!" He said.  
  
"Get to the Voot chamber and start the preparations for the mission! We have to be ready ASAP!" Zim commanded. Gir skipped off toward the lab while Zim continued to get all psyched up over the whole thing.  
  
"…Hey, you want to see the Tallest, right?" Rogue spoke up.  
  
"Didn't I JUST say that?" Zim said, turning toward her.  
  
"Then you want to go to the Massive." Rogue said. "But that overgrown ship is continuously on the move, you know. The Tallest haven't been off that thing for months."  
  
"So what are you saying?" Zim asked.  
  
"If we want this thing to work, we first have to know just where the ship will be by the time we get there, that's all I'm saying." She said. "Besides, I doubt your ship is fast enough to get to the Massive in a matter of days…"  
  
Zim stared into space, knowing right off that was true. It took SIX months for him and Gir to get from Irk to Earth in the first place. "…Hmm…a slight problem…"  
  
"Slight? Maybe. …But I think I know a way to fix it…" Rogue said. Zim gave her a curious look.  
  
"Before we really get ready, we have a little trip to make, to the woods outside this city." Rogue said with a small grin on her face.  
  
"The woods?" Zim said. "There isn't anything there…"  
  
"That's what you think." Rogue said. "I crashed there when I came here, so the remains of my ship should still be in that area. We can use the scrap to kick up your voot so it's faster, better, stronger. Get it?"  
  
"Umm…you crashed landed?" Zim said. He suddenly remembered that "falling star" he saw on the day Rogue came into the classroom. "…Aaah, so that was YOU falling in the sky."  
  
"Yes, it was…you saw that??" Rogue said.  
  
"…And you crashed…"  
  
"…Yeeeah…"  
  
Zim started to chuckle.  
  
"What's so funny?!" Rogue shouted.  
  
"You didn't check this planet's gravity, did you?" Zim asked.  
  
"…I…" Rogue was quiet for a second. "…You just shut up!"  
  
~It was evening as the roof of Zim's house opened wide and the voot came hovering out of it. Both Zim and Rogue were inside; Gir was left behind to look after the base for the short period of time.  
  
As they flew under the early night sky, they finally got a glimpse of the trees that made up the woods outside the human metropolis. Zim slowed the engines down and started to look for Rogue's crash site.  
  
"…There! It's right there!" Rogue pointed down toward an area where the top of the trees looked burned to a crisp. Zim hovered the Voot over the spot and softly floated down.  
  
The front hatch opened and both aliens jumped out to witness one heck of a crash site. Not only were the tops of the trees burned, but so was the ground where Rogue's ship came down. It looked like it just drop straight downward, covering a small area. Pieces of ship were everywhere. Some were hanging in the trees!  
  
Zim stared at the sight then back at Rogue. "…How?!"  
  
"Uh? 'How' what?" Rogue asked.  
  
"How did you survive THIS?!" Zim said.  
  
"…I got a FEW cuts and bruises I guess…" She answered.  
  
"…You're more then Irken…" Zim said with awe.  
  
"That's enough sightseeing." Rogue said. "We have to start salvaging this before it get's too dark. Come on."  
  
For the next few hours, the two Irken took whatever was still operational. There were still some portions left of the engines, the communicate system, and the hyper XL system, which Rogue said what made her ship go extra fast.  
  
"Hey! Whats all this?" Zim found a set of metal boxes all clumped together.  
  
"Oh, those are just some extra storages units I use sometimes." Rogue said as she carried a large piece of equipment to the voot. Zim's eyes widen watching her carry that thing like it was a feather. "But get them anyway, we might need them."  
  
Zim looked over the boxes. A few were burned alittle from the crash, leaving some holes in them, but he figured they were still good. Placing his hands underneath one, he tried to lift it up, but with no luck. It felt like it weighted a ton. He couldn't move it an inch.  
  
"Need help?" Rogue said. Zim looked up and Rogue was at the other end of the container. With one hand, the cybrog lifted the side of the metal box with Zim still hanging onto the the other end.  
  
*OOF!*  
  
"…What was that??" Rogue stopped and looked around.  
  
"What was was?" Zim asked. He dropped down and looked around. "…I don't see anything."  
  
"…Uh…I could have sworn I just heard something…" Rogue said.  
  
"Your mind is playing tricks. Or maybe it was a Earth wood beast." Zim said, trying to sould like he knew what he was talking about.  
  
"…Um…aw well. This ought to be for what we need." She walked to the back of the voot and placed the metal container along with the rest of the stuff. "Anymore, and the Voot might get too heavy to lift off."  
  
"Let's go then." Zim said. They got into the Voot and left the crash site.  
  
~Back at the base a few more hours later, Rogue, Zim, and Gir were in the Voot repair bay wrapping up the finishing touches on Zim's ship. Rogue was installing on the hyper XL into the ship's mainframe, Zim was finishing an extension area on the back of the Voot, and Gir was helping by staying out of the way.  
  
"The mainframe is all set, Zim." Rogue said. She hopped out of the cockpit and walked around to the back. "You hear me? I said-"  
  
"I heard you…" He said, welding metal on the ship.  
  
Rogue made a scornful face. "…Well, that just leaves for what you're doing, and we'll be all set, right?" She started walking away before Zim could answer that with a "yes".  
  
The female Irken went back to the front and sat there to wait. There were three seats in the Voot now; two in the front and one big one in the back. Right behind the back seats there was a small walkway that headed toward a backroom where supplies could be held. Like what Rogue said, it was bigger and better.  
  
Rogue breathed a sigh and looked upward at the wire filled celing. She still wasn't sure if she made the right choose going with Zim's brain dead plan, but it was too late to back out now. She was the one that said they were in the same boat now…so maybe she had herself to blame for him cooking up this whole "mission".  
  
Suddenly, Rogue felt something tap her on the shoulder. She jumped and turned away, only to see Gir in the back seat.  
  
"ARE WE THERE YET?!" The robot screeched.  
  
"…We haven't LEFT yet…" Rogue said. She sat back in her seat, "…Do we REALLY have to bring that 'SIR'?"  
  
"It is done!" Zim's voice boomed. "We are ready!" He ran over to the front and jumped into his seat.  
  
"Hold it." Rogue said. "We should check and see if the hyper XL is gonna work first."  
  
Zim looked at her like she just ruined his moment of glory. "…Fine."  
  
After returning the mean look, Rogue pressed a button on the panal that said in Irken writing, "START XL SYSTEM TEST". A launch tube opened above them and the hover started to slowly drift up through it. But in the blink of an eye, the Voot suddenly shot like a bullet up and through the house roof, heading into the Earth's atmosphere!  
  
Zim and Rogue were screaming as Gir was loving every second of it. Before the ship could reach space, Rogue slammed on the "EMERGENCY STOP" button. The Voot helded so fast, it threw Gir out of his back seat and smashed him against the glass shield. They were JUST where the Earth's ozone layer was.  
  
"…Uuuuh…what do you think…?" Zim said, still shaking.  
  
"…I think the XL needs some adjusting…" Rogue answered, trembling too.  
  
"AGAIN!!" Gir screamed.  
  
"NO!!!" They shouted back.  
  
~It was back to the base before the trip could really start. Rogue worked on the hyper XL for another hour or so before she knew what was wrong.  
  
"…No wonder…the GERO mechanism got loosen during my crash…that's what made it go all crazy…" Rogue said.  
  
"Can it be fixed?" Zim asked.  
  
Rogue looked up quickly, not knowing he was watching her the whole time! "…Yeeeah, it's a simple fix, really. I'll be done in about a half hour."  
  
"…I think we better wait till the sun starts to rise before we go…" Zim said before walking off. Rogue stopped and looked back at him.  
  
"What? Why? It would be better if left during the night, right??"  
  
"…I have a few things to do in the lab before we leave." Zim answered. He then left Rogue alone with the Voot.  
  
"…Is something bothering him…?" Rogue said to herself.  
  
~In the main lab, Zim sat down in his chair and stared at his computer screen. He wasn't really doing anything, he was just…thinking. His mind was mentally preparing itself. He knew this trip was not going to be easy. What he, and Rogue are going to do would be considered senseless to others. But to him, it was all he could do to try and satisfied a small but growing hate he began to have for the Tallest.  
  
"…Computer?"  
  
The computer blinked and answered, "Yes, Zim?"  
  
"…I am heading into space tomorrow, and…I am not sure when I'll be coming back…" Zim hung him head for a moment. "…So…my only command I want you to follow is this: If I do not return in a matter of months, or lets say within a year…I want you to shut down all functions in all of the base and then I want you to shut down as well…"  
  
"…For how long?" The computer asked.  
  
"…For good…" Zim answered.  
  
"…Master…?" The computer worded.  
  
Unknown to Zim, just inside the elevator doorway, Rogue had heard the whole conversation. For the first time since she's been on Earth, she was speechless.  
  
'…Zim…' She thought as she went back down to the Voot bay level. "…You know you might not come back, don't you…?" A uneasy feeling suddenly gripped Rogue's gut. She clutched her abdomen. "…What? …Why do I feel…so bad for him…??"  
  
TBC………… 


	13. The Stowaway

Chapter 12  
  
The Stowaway  
  
The next morning, as the sun rose over the tops of the city's tallest buildings, the preparations for lift off was finally complete. They're been done since late last night, but the time to go was finally now. In the deep portion of the lab, Zim, Gir, and Rogue were all in the newly designed Voot. A full system check was run on everything, it was all clear. They were ready.  
  
"Mainframe system clear. Artificial gravity balanced. Preparing for liftoff." The computer announced.  
  
"This is it…" Rogue whispered to herself. She and Zim sat in the two front seats with Gir in the back. Anything that had to be handled in the base was done. Seeing Zim last night, what he said to his computer, was still fresh in in Rogue's mind. But she still didn't understand why she had that brief unusual feeling in the pit of her gut. She could have swore it was like…a sick sensation, but at the same time, it wasn't. It didn't make her want to puke or anything. It just made her feel bad…  
  
"There we go!" Zim said. The ceiling launch tube opened once again and this time the Voot went smoothly up and out of the roof without anything going wrong. Zim then took the controls and sped up ever further upward. In seconds, they were in the Earth's atmosphere. Kicking in the new powered engines, the Voot headed for space. Their journey finally begun.  
  
"…" Rogue took in a sigh and looked out the glass bubble window, at the first mass of stars mixed within the blackness of the cosmos. Even up to this point, she was unsure about all this. But again, she wanted to settle things with the Tallest as much as Zim did. Maybe even more.  
  
Zim pressed a few buttons on the panel and the computer's voice came up, saying, "Tracking last known location of the Massive… … …Sector XE-77."  
  
"That's not TOO far…" Zim said. "Computer, can you tell where it's heading now?"  
  
"… … …It is highly possible that the Massive is heading towards Sector ZC-34. Records show that is where one of the planets for an assigned invader is." The computer said.  
  
"Then set a course for that sector." Zim commanded.  
  
"Time to reach sector… … …approximately three days and five hours." the computer added.  
  
Rogue at last looked away from the window and at Zim. "…Three days…that isn't bad at all."  
  
"It's perfect." Zim said with a grin. "Better then that time it took six months to get to Earth…" He paused for a minute after saying that.  
  
"…What's the matter?" Rogue asked.  
  
"…UH? What?" He said.  
  
"…Never mind." Rogue said, and sunk back into her seat.  
  
From the back, Gir asked, "Are we theeere yet??"  
  
"We just started, Gir!" Zim said with a slight scowl. "It will take three days to get there, so just stay put. That's an order."  
  
Rogue turned her head toward Gir, who was looking bored out of his mind already. That is if he had a mind. She brought her head back and looked at Zim. "…Hey…what were you doing last night…?" The words just came out. Rogue already knew what Zim was doing in the lab the other night. She wasn't sure why she just asked such a dumb question.  
  
But Zim reaction was a bit of a surprise to Rogue. He shot his head toward her with a stunned expression. "…I was…doooing…" He was looking for the right lie, Rogue could tell.  
  
"…You were saying goodbye…to your computer…" Rogue finished. Zim's eyes got wide.  
  
"NO! I was not! Why would I do such a…pointless thing? I know I'll come back! I am ZIM!" He said.  
  
Rogue still didn't buy it. "…You don't have to hide it. I know you're scared…right? In fact, I bet you never been this uncertain about one of your own actions…"  
  
"BE QUIET!!" Zim yelled. Rogue didn't even flinch. She knew that response was coming. The Zim continued saying, "I happen to have the utmost sureness that this brilliant plan of mine WILL work! So there!"  
  
Rogue didn't say anything to counteract Zim's last testament, which got him thinking he won the argument, however…  
  
"…You're a pretty bad liar, Zim."  
  
Zim's grip on the controls got tighter. No words were said for the next few hours on the trip. Weather is was anger that kept the silence or something else, Zim retained a rather uncharacteristic appearance on his face. It wasn't anger, it wasn't scowl; it was a really concerned look.  
  
After hours of pure stillness, something caused Rogue's long relaxed antennas to shoot up. Zim looked at her puzzled. "What is it??"  
  
"I heard something." She replied. "…It's faint, but I can still hear it.  
  
Zim gave his antennas a wiggle. "…I don't hear-"  
  
"You can't, it's too low of a sound" Rogue said. "My hearing is enhanced." She got out of her seat, passed Gir and headed toward the back door were the extra equipment was kept. "…It's coming from in the back room."  
  
"Then check it out." Zim said. "Maybe it's a loose sheet of metal."  
  
"…No…it's almost that, but…" Rogue said. Slowly, she opened the automatic door and stepped into the darken room. There was one light bulb on the ceiling which gave just enough light to see, but everything looked fine to Rogue; at first.  
  
But then she heard it again. It did sound like metal, but it wasn't coming from the ship's walls or sides. The sound was coming from one of the large metal boxes she and Zim picked up from the crash site.  
  
"…" Keeping quiet, Rogue crept over to it and the sound got a lot louder. Something was moving in there. She didn't want to take any chances. She placed one hand on the lid and got her other hand ready with it's laser.  
  
She opened the top very slooowly…  
  
*FLASH*  
  
"AAGH!" Rogue quickly stepped back, covering her eyes. She rubbed them a bit before seeing wherever it was jump out of the box and ran behind some other boxes in the corner.  
  
"Stop right there!" She shouted. The figure looked at her, but she still couldn't see who it was, the lighting in the room wasn't the best. Another flash suddenly appeared, temporary blinding Rogue once again. When she could open her eyes again, the person or whatever it was, was heading for the door to the front of the ship.  
  
"I said STOP!" Rogue dashed in front of the figure JUST as it was going to open the door. She finally could see the individual clearly.  
  
"…Y-YOU!!"  
  
Dib fell backwards, hitting his head on the floor. He looked up at Rogue in a bewildered expression. "…Your not Zim!"  
  
"No kidding!" Rogue shouted. "What the HECK are you doing here?!?"  
  
Dib still didn't answer, as he was JUST realizing he was taking snapshots of the wrong Irken. "…Rogue?? …So this is what you REALLY look like…" He displayed a little grin. "And I got it on film!" He held up his trustworthy camera.  
  
Rogue just gave me a soulless stare and answered, "…So?"  
  
"So?! I have prove that your not human!" Dib said, still feeling highly of himself.  
  
"And you ain't gonna LIVE long enough to show it…" Rogue exclaimed, slowly making her way toward the human, with a crazy, anger look in her eyes. Dib's happy mood quickly melted away…  
  
Back upfront, Zim kept looking back at the backroom door, wondering what's taking Rogue long. Then out of the blue, he could feel the Voot rocking back and forth rather violently. He jumped in his seat and heard something happening in the back room. Like…breaking noises.  
  
Just then, the door swung wide open, and both Rogue and the intruding human Dib came stumbling out for Zim to see.  
  
"WHAT THE-!?!" Zim said, watching the two fight it out on the floor, and Rogue looked to be the one winning. She grabbed the back of Dib's black hair and preceded to bash his face into the hard, metal flooring.  
  
"HOLD IT!!" Zim called out. Rogue finally held it, just comprehending that Zim was here. She let go of Dib, letting his battered face fall to the floor one more time.  
  
"WHAT is HE doing here?!" Zim shouted, pointing his finger at Dib.  
  
"He was hiding out in one of the metal boxes we salvaged!" Rogue explained. "I KNEW I heard something when we picked it up!"  
  
Dib got up from off the floor only to see one ticked off face of Zim staring right back at him. "Yoooou…you…HUMAN!!" Zim snarled. "Your are the LAST thing I wanted to see!!"  
  
"I wasn't gonna let whatever you and Rogue are planning work in the first place, Zim!" Dib said, wiping a little drop of blood from the side of his mouth, thanks to Rogue. "You should have known better then to think-"  
  
"Will you just shut it!" Rogue interrupted. "Your little sneaking was meaningless anyways, Dib."  
  
"That's what you think!" He said, tucking his camera into his coat pocket.  
  
"I don't mean that, you IDIOT." She said. "Just look out the window for starters."  
  
Dib's eyes went to the bubble window and all he could see were stars, stars, and even more stars just spanning out into nothing.  
  
"…SPACE?!" He said in a shocked tone, running over to the glass and placing his hands on it.  
  
"Your pictures won't do any good if your not even on your own planet to show them." Rogue said with a mocking grin.  
  
"What are you doing out in space?!" Dib asked.  
  
"NONE of your business, you Earth monkey!" Zim said. "And just to let you know, you caught me in a particular BAD mood…"  
  
"And why's that?" Dib said with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"No more sounds from you!!" Zim shouted.  
  
"But this is a major problem, Zim…" Rogue said, eyeing Dib. "We can't have Earth scum messing us up in this."  
  
"So you are up to something…" Dib said.  
  
"You just shut up if you value your life, even for a few more minutes…" Rogue sneered. The boy backed away a little, fearing of what she was cooking up.  
  
"You're right…so really right." Zim said, a evil grin appearing on his face as well. He turned to Dib. "You picked the worst time to even try and ruin my plan this time, EARTH boy…"  
  
"I say we toss him out in space." Rogue said, rubbing her hands together. "His head would get bigger and then…'pop'."  
  
Dib got a sick feeling in his stomach.  
  
"That's good…" Zim said. "But we COULD chuck him into the nearest star…I've thought of how funny that would look…heheheh…" The two Irkens continued to converse while Dib was starting to believe that maybe this wasn't such a great idea.  
  
"…Hey…wait a sec…" Rogue stopped and looked around. "…Where did Gir go?"  
  
"Eh?" Zim turned his head towards the control panel. But he quickly moved his sights outside as he saw a horde of meteors coming straight for them. And as it turns out, Gir was sitting in the pilot set, playing with all the buttons.  
  
"WHEE!! I'm winning!!" The SIR squealed.  
  
"GIR!! GET OFF OF THERE!!" Zim yelled. He knocked Gir out of his seat, but they were now into the mass of rocks, bumping and getting rammed. Everybody in the ship were thrown to the floor. Thanks to Gir, the flight course was slightly altered. Zim tried to fixed it, but then a new problem stirred up.  
  
"…Uh, Zim..?" Rogue said in a nervous tone. The Irken looked up and was horrified to see a planet in their path. Before Zim could fix the first problem, the gravity from the upcoming new threat began to pull them towards the planet's surface. Everyone started to scream bloody murder, except Gir who was loving every minute and didn't know better in the first place.  
  
The Voot tilted into a nose dive angle as it began it's crash course onto the lone planet. The screams heard in the ship soon died out as the vessel finally pummeled and collided into the planet's terrain.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
"…Mmm…uh…what?" Rogue woke up, finding herself inside a badly bashed up Voot. She regained her sences and glaced around, having to remember what just happened. She noticed the front window was broken, glass was everywhere, and that is when it hit her.  
  
The moment after impact, she saw Zim, Dib, and Gir being flunged forward and breaking through the bubble glass. She didn't go through because she had a death grip on the back of her seat, but she did end up hitting her head at the same time.  
  
The female Irken walked outside onto the planet's plane. The ground was gray and dust covered nearly everything. The sky was oddly a redness hue, which reminded Rogue of the skys back on Irk. There seemed to be a few of the planet's plant life still hanging around, but as much as Rogue could see, the place looked rather dead. An abandoned planet.  
  
"…Where are they..?" Rogue said, suddenly noticing that she couldn't see any sign of Zim, Gir, or Dib, which she couldn't care less of, but the other two counted. "…Hello? …Zim? Gir? …Where are you?"  
  
TBC………… 


	14. Unexpected Affection

Chapter 13  
  
Unexpected Affection  
  
"Zim…? Gir…? Where are you guys!?"  
  
Rogue's voice echoed through out the barren wasteland of the planet. As she stood alone, a weak wind blew across the region, kicking dust up in her face. She coughed a bit and looked around again.   
  
It was such a depressing looking place. The sky just made it even creepier, that strange red tint. If it wasn't for the few small plants which seemed to be struggling to grow in the dry dirt, you could say the planet was completely dead.  
  
Rogue started to walk away from the crashed Voot, hoping to find Zim and Gir, and if lucky, minus Dib.  
  
The Irken walked up and over a dust dune before spotting a sign of movement in the distance. Again, a gust of wind came up as she tried to see whom it was. She covered her eyes and waited for the wind to die down, then saw that it was Gir, rolling around in the dirt, giggling.  
  
"GIR!" Rogue called out, running down the hill. The dusty little SIR looked up and shouted, "HIIIII!!"  
  
"Gir, where's Zim?" Rogue asked the moment she got to him. He pointed a little further ahead of them and there he was, shouting at Dib, both of them just plastered in dust. Rogue could hear what they were yelling about.  
  
"WHAT?! It was YOUR robot that messed things up, not me!" Dib shouted, pointing in Zim's face.  
  
"You shouldn't have been in my ship in the first place! I ought to rip your organs out and……STUFF!!" Zim shrieked.  
  
"Oh, great comeback." Dib said mocking like.  
  
That comment caused a fight to fire up. Zim nailed Dib across the jaw, then grabbed his hair and got him into a headlock. The two continued this squabble while Rogue just watched, shaking her head. After the fight went on for another few minutes, she thought it was time to cut it out.  
  
"HEY!" She yelled toward them. The human and Irken finally stopped pounding away at each other and saw Rogue heading for them. "I can't believe you..." She said.  
  
"Can't believe what?" Zim asked. He and Dib both now had a black eye and bloody lip.  
  
"We run into a problem and all you can think about is fighting it out with him." She said, directing that toward Dib. "Your lucky I can handle heavy impacts, or you would be on your own right now!"  
  
"I saw you were still breathing!" Zim said in his defense. "Besides, it was Dib's fault that-"  
  
"It was your ROBOT!" Dib yelled.  
  
"SHUT UP!!" Rogue shouted. The two went quiet. "…Look, as much as I hate this, we all have to put this aside and think of a way to fix the Voot and get off this place." She looked at Dib with a vengeful glare. "…And you're gonna help us."  
  
"WHAT?!" Both Dib and Zim said with slack jaws.  
  
"I've seen the Voot and it's trashed." Rogue said. "…We…ugh…could need an extra hand…" She shuddered at the thought.  
  
The two rivals looked at one another and could tell they both didn't want the other's "help".  
  
"…I still want to rip your organs out…" Zim said, giving a scornful look.  
  
"…And I still have to expose you for the alien you really are…" Dib said, giving Zim the same glare.  
  
"…Would you two just snake on it or something!" Rogue said getting irritated.  
  
The human was the first to slowly raise his hand up. Zim kept his eyes on him as he too lifted his hand to meet Dib's. They shook on it, which afterward they let go really quick and turned their backs on each other.  
  
"Alright, lets get to work." Rogue said.  
  
About a hour past with the repairing of the Voot. It was going slow. Rogue was working on the broken glass window in the front while Zim was mending the wiring in the control panel. Just behind Zim, Dib was given the "simple" task of repairing the seats that got busted up in the crash.  
  
The human displayed a sour expression. "You know, I happen to have some knowledge of your Irken technology, Zim. I did work on Tak's ship after all."  
  
"Quiet and fix those seats, human!" Zim answered. "Besides, I wouldn't trust you with this type of job." A few wild sparks suddenly flew from the panel he was working out. Dib snickered.  
  
"SILENCE!!" Zim yelled.  
  
"Do I have to come in there?" Rogue suddenly spoke up. She had JUST finished with the glass bubble window. "Good thing we had a spare in the back…but there is still some work to be done."  
  
"I have this under control." Zim said, and then another round of sparks came up in his face.  
  
"Sure you are…" Rogue said. She got next to him and took a look for herself at the wiring. "…You have a few of these crossed, Zim."  
  
"…I knew that!" He said. Rogue signed.  
  
After a little of her own handle work, Rogue let Zim get back to it on his own. "If you have more trouble-"  
  
"I'll be fine." He said. "I know what I'm doing."  
  
Rogue didn't say any more. She hopped out of the ship and took a little walk. She didn't say anything, but she could tell this whole thing was still bothering Zim. Rewiring a Voot control panel is smeet stuff, but if you have a lot on your mind, like Zim, it isn't as easy…  
  
She found a place to sit on a large boulder that was sticking out of the ground. She gazed up at the reddish skies, it's hue was rather enchanting in a way. It was close to the same colored atmosphere back on Irk.  
  
"…He's still worried…and still won't say he is…" Rogue said out loud. "…Why doesn't he just say it? He's so stubborn…" She let out a sigh as a light wing blew through her long antennas. At that moment, her mind couldn't stop thinking about Zim. She knew he was self centered and over prideful, but, there was just something about him… She couldn't help but…  
  
"…I feel sorry for him?" She asked herself. "…NO WAY!" She jumped off the rock and shook her head. "I ain't sorry for that Irken! He's pigheaded! And just now he knows he's a menace! IDIOT!!"  
  
"What's a menace??"  
  
Rogue jumped and turned around to see Gir staring at her was a confused expression. She mentally slapped herself.  
  
"…How long have you been standing there?" She asked with a blank look.  
  
"Uh…'He's still worried and he won't say he-'" Gir started quoting.  
  
"Never mind." Rogue said. "…So you heard me talking to myself? Great…" She sat back down on her rock and hung her head. "…I'm getting pathetic."  
  
"Why are you talking when Master isn't around?" Gir asked. He sat right next to Rogue, which made her back away a little.  
  
"What is it to you?" She asked. "I have…stuff on my mind, alright? A broken SIR like you wouldn't be able to understand anyways…"  
  
"…Red." Gir worded out.  
  
"What??" Rogue looked back at him with a baffled look.  
  
"…Your face is red!" Gir squealed, pointing right at her.  
  
"WHAT?!" Rogue started rubbing her face, thinking there was something on there, but there wasn't.  
  
"YOOOU'RE BLUSHING!!" Gir said with a hyper tone in his voice.  
  
"NO I'M NOT!!" Rogue shouted, but that got her blushing ever more. "Why would I be blushing in the first place!? You know nothing!"  
  
"Red face!" Gir poked Rogue's cheeks playfully.  
  
Rogue just stopped and thought about it; the look on her face turning shocked. '…No…I DON'T…THAT'S SICK!!!'  
  
Gir suddenly ran off, giggling and repeating over and over, "RED FACE! RED FACE! ROGUE'S IN LO-"  
  
"NOOOO!!" Rogue dashed toward Gir and slammed her hand over the robot's big mouth. In the distance, Zim looked up, wondering what those two were doing all the way over there.  
  
"You just keep your trap shut!" Rogue said to Gir. "Don't said ANYTHING to Zim! Understand?" Gir shook his head 'yes'.  
  
The female alien let go and let Gir go his way. She just stood there, her eye twitching a bit. The heat in her face finally died down, but it was replaced by that weird gut feeling she got the other night.  
  
'…This can't be right…it just can't! For crying out loud, this shouldn't be happening!!' She shouted in her own head. 'Irkens can't fall in…'  
  
Zim suddenly flinched hearing Rogue give out a rather loud scream. He and Dib looked outside and saw her walking around in a circle, holding her head and mumbling something to herself.  
  
"…Ooook…" Dib said.  
  
"…Rogue??" Zim said, he cocked a useable eyebrow.  
  
Rogue stopped in her tracks as she saw that Zim was staring at her. Her face went RED in nano-seconds. Zim looked even more confused.  
  
"I'M FINE!!" She shouted before running off again.  
  
"…Uhhhh…hmm." Zim just went back to his work.  
  
"This isn't happening, this isn't happening…" Rogue just continued to repeat herself, walking back and forth far off from the Voot. She made a little path in the ground, she was walking so much. At one point, she tried getting Zim out of her head by punching her head, but that didn't work.  
  
"Why is this happening!?" She said. "…Irkens can't…we don't have to have these feelings! It was unnecessary once advanced cloning became the main tool for producing more smeets!" She finally stopped and planted her butt on the ground. "…This feeling is a thing of the past…I shouldn't be having it. …I mean…I was created like other Irkens, right?"  
  
"Rogue!"  
  
The perplexed Irken jumped at the sound of Zim's voice in the distance.  
  
"We're leaving! The Voot is done!"  
  
"…That was somewhat quick…" She got up, dusted herself off and her way back.  
  
"I'm pretty sure I got the circuits and electric wiring right now…" Zim said as they were getting ready to go. Rogue sat in her front seat while Gir was in the back.  
  
"…Why is he coming?" Rogue asked expressionlessly. Dib was in the back with Gir.  
  
"Hey, I helped, so-" Dib started.  
  
"We promised that when this is all over, we have a battle to the DEATH back on his planet…" Zim said with a sneer to his voice. "It will be sweeet."  
  
"…Did you tell him?" Rogue said.  
  
"Tell him what?" Zim asked.  
  
"Why we're on this trip? I guess he should know now…"  
  
"Something about your leaders betraying you, right?" Dib said. "Zim said something like that when he was working. I overheard it. What did they do?"  
  
"…Shut up for the rest of the time, alright?" Rogue said, almost without any feeling to it.  
  
"…" Dib just stayed silence.  
  
"We're off!" Zim started the Voot and it took off without any problems. The repairs were a success. As they left that desolate planet, Rogue stared out into space not saying a single word.  
  
'…'Affection'…'Love'…Words like that are rarely, if not, never used anymore in Irken society…' She thought as the stars looked to zoom by them '…Would it be a crime if I really…'  
  
TBC……… 


	15. Infiltrate

Chapter 14  
  
Infiltrate  
  
In the dead of space, the Voot traveled pass the stars. Some time has also past since they left that empty planet; roughly two days. Not too much has happen since then. Gir has been keeping Dib busy, and the other way around for that matter, poking him and playing with his black hair and the bottom rim of his coat. It's been driving the human nuts.  
  
Zim and Rogue haven't said too much to each other either. Zim would often mumble something under his breath, but Rogue was practically dead the whole time. After two days, Zim finally started to see that.  
  
"…Aren't you excited?" Zim suddenly asked.  
  
"What??" Rogue jumped a little. That was pretty much the only thing she had said since they left the planet. "…You say something?"  
  
"I said, aren't you excited?" Zim repeated.  
  
"…Sure I am." She said, but it was in an empty tone. Zim looked at her funny. "…What how?"  
  
"You don't look it…" Zim said before returning to the controls.  
  
Too much has been riding on the female Irken's mind for the past few days. She was still uncomfortable about the sensation she's been feeling toward Zim, which he is still obvious to know. But that was not the only thing bugging her.  
  
There was still a chance that what they want to do could backfire or worst. No one had ever dared to face the Tallest in a battle of invader and/or Irken rights, if that was it was all about anymore. No, it was for payback, for all the lies both she and Zim have been through and are just finding out. And who knows how many Irkens of any class or job have had this same thought or realization, but have not been around to announce it.  
  
"…Tallest can get away with it…" Rogue said in a low voice.  
  
"What was that?" Zim said, turning his head toward her.  
  
Rogue just looked back at him; debating weather she should repeat that. "…I was just thinking…when one is lucky enough to become a Tallest, they can do whatever they want, right?"  
  
"The…laws of higher classes do promote that. …So?" Zim said.  
  
"Then what does that mean to us?" Rogue said. Zim didn't understand. "…I'm saying that who ever becomes Tallest, can do anything they wish, weather it's for the good of the Empire or not! I know that the control brains are used to "help" the Tallest in whatever way possible, but…do the control brains even know what the Tallest do behind their backs?"  
  
Zim's face changed a bit to that thought. In the Irken race, The Tallest and the control brains that control nearly all the major functions in and all around Irk, are the highest classes in their Empire. In a sense, "Tallest" is merely a title to the one lucky Irken that doesn't have to worry about anything while the control brains do all the work. But that one would still have to have "some" duties, most of which that must first have to be consulted with a control brain, to insure that it is ok to go with. That is the law.  
  
"…They could be breaking that law!" Zim said with widen eyes.  
  
"Exactly." Rogue said. "I don't think I've ever even seen the Tallest go to the control brains while I was around them. Rarely, maybe…"  
  
"Then we have to let the control brains know if this! They must know!" Zim said.  
  
"But what about the Massive? We were going there, right?" Rogue said. "…Wait…"  
  
"What?" Zim said.  
  
"If I remember right, I heard there is a room in the Massive where the Tallest can go and get in touch with the Main Control Brain that is back on Irk!"  
  
"REALLY?!" Zim said with an eager tone in his voice. "Then what you're saying is…"  
  
"We get into the Massive, we find that room and speak with the Control Brain herself." Rogue explained, displaying a little grin on her face.  
  
"BRILLIENT!!" Zim said with a mad smirk. "Now all that leaves is sneaking onto the ship!"  
  
"…I think I might know a way…" Rogue said with a plotting expression.  
  
At that tiny moment, the "affection" feeling Rogue had felt before slowly but surely began to come back. But she didn't feel sick this time, she was rather used to it now. She looked back up at Zim, now with a wide grin across his face. His overzealous confident attitude seemed to be coming back.  
  
All Rogue could do right then was smile. She didn't know why she wanted to smile, but it happened…  
  
"Region warning; Approaching EXTREMELY large Irken vessel." The Voot's panel suddenly announced. "Identified as the MASSIVE, repeat, the MASSIVE."  
  
Without a doubt, just about a half-mile away from their view, the two Irkens could clearly see the Massive itself gliding through space.  
  
"There it is…" Zim said.  
  
"HIII!!" Gir suddenly popped up the back with his loud greeting. Right behind the little robot was Dib, wide eyed and jaw drop. It was the first time he got to see his enemy's leader's ship.  
  
"WOOOOW!" Dib said.  
  
"…Oh yeah…we forgot about you…" Rogue said, good feeling gone. She got out of her chair and grabbed the ogle-eyed human by the back of his trench coat. She dragged him to the back of the Voot and closed the metal door behind her.  
  
There was a crash sound followed by a series of thuds and yells, most likely Dib's. After a few moments of this, Rogue emerged from the back alone and walked back to her seat. She wore a little grin on his face.  
  
"Taken care of." She said to Zim.  
  
"Perfect. Now, what was your plan to infiltrate the Massive?" Zim asked. Outside the mighty Irken spaceship crept closer to their smaller, pint-sized craft.  
  
"Ok, listen close…" Rogue started.  
  
Inside the cockpit of the Massive, the row of crew-Irkens were tending to the main controls when an incoming transmission buzzed onto the center screen.  
  
"Come in Massive…buzz this is Irken Rogue reporting. buzz I have returned from my previous mission by orders of the Almighty Tallest. buzz Requesting permission to broad. Repeat, permission to board."  
  
One of the Irkens at the controls replied swiftly. "Affirmative. Please enter through ship bay 5."  
  
"Roger, over and out." Rogue said.  
  
As the cybrog worked her way into the Massive, far in the back room of their ship, Zim and Gir hid inside one of the empty metal boxes.  
  
"Gir! Stay still!" Zim said as his SIR couldn't stop moving around. It was a bit of a tight fit in there. "Once inside, we must wait till Rogue gives the word before we can move out. Understand that, Gir?"  
  
"I wants me a moose!" He squealed.  
  
"QUIET!!" Zim yelled.  
  
Just outside their hiding place laid Dib, out cold.  
  
Rogue entered the Tallest's command ship and landed onto to platform in ship bay 5 as told too. Before going outside, she went back to see how the "cargo" were doing.  
  
"Hey Zim?" She lifted the top of the box. Zim and Gir were staring back at her.  
  
"Now?" He asked. Gir was ready to burst.  
  
"No, not quite. I have to report to the Tallest first before anything else, so just stay here for a little longer, alright?" She then closed the lid again and exited her ship.  
  
Out on the spaceship loading bay, other Irkens were stopping to see that Rogue had finally returned. Some waved; others stepped back, thinking she was going explode with anger or something. Rogue just shook her head to this. 'I hate it when they think I'm gonna 'do' something.' She thought. Then again, she was going to do something, but first, the Tallest.  
  
She walked into a small elevator which took her closer to the Tallest's clamber. It took about five more minutes of on foot before she got to their doors. She pressed her hand on the wall of the entrance and the doors slid open.  
  
"Um? Who's that?" Purple's voice echoed out. "…Oooh, it's you!"  
  
Rogue set foot into their quarters. Red was there as well, of course. Purple faced her wearing what Rogue knew was a fake grin.  
  
"So, you finally return." He said.  
  
Rogue had to bring herself to doing a salute to them. It was the first time it made her insides turn.  
  
"So tell us, Rogue…" Red started. "Was the mission a success?"  
  
"Yes." She said, doing her best not to blow her act. "The one you call Zim has been dealt with…"  
  
"You killed him?" Purple asked, suddenly sounding excited.  
  
"…Yes." Rogue forced out.  
  
"WHOO-HOO!!" Purple cheered. Red smiled from ear to ear.  
  
"Finally!" Red whispered under his breath, but Rogue heard it.  
  
A nauseous, sick feeling abruptly overtook her as she watched the taller Irkens celebrate. It was a mix of rage and disgust. If she could do or say anything right there and now, she wouldn't have any problem doing so. But she knew she still had to wait and continue with this performance.  
  
"Ah…so, that's great news, Rogue." Red said. "You're dismissed."  
  
"…Yes, my Tallest…" She couldn't wait to get out of there. She turned for the door and left. When the doors closed behind her, she stopped and reflected on just how stupid they really were.  
  
"…Our leaders are not at all what many think…" She thought out loud. She continued back to the spaceship bay.  
  
Meanwhile, back on the Voot, Zim was beginning to wonder where Rogue was. He and Gir were still hiding on the box, but it was starting to get a little cramped.  
  
"…Where is she!?" He said, making sure not to get too loud. He could hear other Irkens walking around outside, which was making him even more tense. If someone other then Rogue was to come in and find them, it'll ruin everything.  
  
Just then, Zim heard footsteps. He stopped moving, and breathing to see if he can tell if it was Rogue, or someone else. He held down his SIR and waited…  
  
"…Zim? It's me."  
  
Zim exhaled and whipped open the top. It was Rogue.  
  
"Finally!" He said. Gir just smiled.  
  
"Alright, put this on." Rogue tossed Zim a guard uniform.  
  
"Eh? Where did you get this?" Zim looked the clothes over.  
  
"Never mind that, just get it on." Rogue said.  
  
Zim slipped the suit on over his normal clothes, but there was a problem. "…It's won't work."  
  
"What?" Rogue said.  
  
"It's too big." He said. The bottom part and the sleeves were hitting the floor.  
  
"…" Rogue wanted to say it was because he was too short, but now wasn't the time. "…Then stand on top of Gir."  
  
Zim glanced over at the robot. "Gir, hold still." He got up on top the SIR's head and then put the uniform on over him. With the height boost, Zim looked more like a guard.  
  
"That's better." Rogue said.  
  
"YAAH!" Gir squealed. Zim nearly lost his balance.  
  
"GIR!" Zim shouted. "Now, you just have to walk right, got that?"  
  
"OK!" He answered from under the outfit.  
  
"I hope this works…" Rogue said to herself.  
  
Meanwhile at the Massive's main control room…  
  
"Hey, I've heard that cybrog is back on the ship." One of the many communications officers said to another.  
  
"Oh really? I wonder where she ran off too this time." The other replied.  
  
The doors suddenly opened as Red and Purple came floating into the room. Everyone shut up and waited for the Tallest to take their seat in the center of the bridge.  
  
"Awaiting orders, my Tallest." The head of the bridge team said.  
  
"Set course of the next planet on the invader list." Red said. The Irkens did so and the Massive picked up it speed.  
  
"Hey! A slurpie over here!" Purple called out.  
  
"Same here." Red said.  
  
After exiting the Voot, Rogue and an undercover Zim and Gir made their way through the hallways from the parking bay. Gir's walking took some time to perfect; he was nearly throwing his Master off when ever he took a step. After they got their balance, they went ahead with the infiltration.  
  
'Looks like this is gonna work after all…' Rogue thought. They passed other Irkens who didn't seem to notice the "guard's" peculiar, wobbling walk.  
  
"Rogue? Just where is this Control Brain communication room?" Zim asked in a low tone voice.  
  
"I heard it's towards the back of the ship. We're halfway there." She answered. Just then, Rogue stopped in her tracks. Gir bumped into her and Zim nearly fell over once again.  
  
"Gir! Watch it!" Zim snapped.  
  
"Quiet!" Rogue said. Right ahead of them stood numerous, partially blocking their path. Rogue signaled Zim and Gir to move over behind the corner of the hallway.  
  
"This is a problem…" She whispered to them. "I bet there are so many guards there because that leads to the room. I should have thought about that…"  
  
"Now what?" Zim asked. Gir peeked through the clothes underneath waiting to see what Rogue had in mind.  
  
Plotting, the cybrog looked around at their current location. She spotted one of the air vents in the wall. "We can sneak in through there."  
  
Zim and Gir looked up. "You sure that will work?" Zim asked with a raised brow.  
  
"Why not?" Rogue deployed her metal legs and opened the vent way. Zim and Gir ditched the guard disguise and followed her in.  
  
It was a lot dimmer in the vents then outside. Gir automatically switched on the light in his eyes to illuminate things. The three resumed on.  
  
"We have to be really quiet from now on." Rogue whispered. "Watch your step."  
  
"…Something smells funny!" Gir pronounced. Zim slapped his hand over the SIR's mouth. Rogue stopped and took a short whiff herself.  
  
"…Fuel. We're hear the fuel tanks." Rogue said. "…The tanks are right next to the Control Brain room??"  
  
Back at the main control room…  
  
"We'll be at the next planet within a few hours my Tallest." One of the Irkens at the controls stated.  
  
"Great, carry on." Purple said laying back sipping on his slurpie. Next to him, Red took a swallow of his beverage and then set it down.  
  
"…Has anyone seen or heard from Rogue lately?" He suddenly asked.  
  
Purple looked at him funny. "Why? She's already reported to us."  
  
The other Tallest had a pondering face on. "…I just had a weird feeling all of the sudden…"  
  
"So?" Purple said.  
  
Red stood up to make an announcement. "Hey! Tell all guards on the ship to keep an eye out for Rogue. When you find her, let us know."  
  
Zim, Gir and Rogue just passed the tank room and were nearing their destination. They went by a few more vent openings and saw that there were indeed a lot more Irkens walking around in the area.  
  
"How do we know there won't be any guards inside the communication room?" Zim asked.  
  
"If there is, I'll take care of it." Rogue answered.  
  
Just then, the announcement Red requested boomed through all the speakers on the ship.  
  
"Attention! All Irken hands! Be on the lookout for Rogue. Repeat, all Irken hands! Be on the lookout for Rogue."  
  
The Irkens stopped in their tracks. "Did you hear that?" Zim whispered.  
  
Rogue bit her lower lip. "…Could the Tallest have sensed that something's up? We're got to hurry!"  
  
They hustled pass even more armed Irkens, making their current situation a tad more tense. Zim started to get anxious; sweating nervously. Rogue too was the same, but was doing her best to hide it. Gir was sensing a little danger, for once in his life anyway.  
  
They finally made it; right below them was the Control Brain's communication's room, and lucky for them, nobody was in there.  
  
Rogue kicked open the vent cover and they dropped down to the floor. The extent of the area was above the size of Zim's living room. Right at the center was a panel where the Tallest can connect to the Main Control Brain that resided on Irk.  
  
"Let's get to work." Zim said.  
  
"Hang on a sec…" Rogue walked over to the door leading to the hallways where all the guards were walking around. She placed her hands on the door's electric lock. Her gems glowed softly before the lock sparked and buzzed.  
  
"…What did you just do?" Zim asked with a puzzled stare.  
  
"I disabled the door so no one can get in through it. It will buy us some time." She walked over to the middle panel. "Here we go."  
  
Using the same method she used before on Zim's computer, Rogue hooked herself up to the panel's internal wires. In front of them a hologram screen appeared with the two eyed Irken symbol on it. A computer voice then said to them, "Please enter three part access code now."  
  
"A code? I would think they could automatically connect through their PAKs…" Zim mentioned.  
"Me too…" Rogue said. "But it still doesn't mean I can't get through…" She began punching in buttons on her arm. Zim watched her work but she was going so fast his eyes couldn't keep up. On the screen numbers and irken letters flashed by at lightning speed.  
  
"…This doesn't make sense!" Rogue suddenly stated.  
  
"What doesn't? What's wrong?" Zim looked at the holoscreen and only saw the Irken symbol again.  
  
"I've tried everything but I can't crack this last one." Rogue said pushing some more buttons. "All the other firewalls and lockout programs before this one were just like anything else I've got through, but this one protection encode just doesn't want to break. I've tried every single trick, nothing's happening…"  
  
"Have you ever seen something like it?" Zim asked.  
  
"…No, this…this is new." Rogue lowered her arm and took a breather. "It must be brand new program; something made JUST for Main Control Brain. If I tried to figure it out, they might find out about us first and then it would all over."  
  
Zim slammed his fist on the wall. "UGH! We're so close!"  
  
Rogue crossed her arms and thought hard. "… … … …Maybe…"  
  
"Maaaybe?" Gir said. He's been watching the screen the whole time; it's been keeping him busy.  
  
"You have something?!" Zim asked eagerly.  
  
"I might." Rogue answered. "The wall is highly protective. I can't break through it, but I might be able to go AROUND it."  
  
"AROUND it??" Zim was lost again.  
  
"By starting from where I left off, I could access other lesser programs of the mainframe til I find a "hole" that I can sneak though. It might not work, depending on just how big the program is. …What do you think?"  
  
Zim thought about it. "…I'm not sure what you mean by this "hole", but if this is what it's going to take………do it!"  
  
"…Right." Rogue began their last ditch plan. If this didn't work, nothing else will. Starting from where she couldn't get in, she launched her discoding programs through out all other CPUs thoughout the Irken mainframes. To show she was breaking through them, the screen above showed little computer walls being smashed through one by one. Thus far, she has busted about twenty different programs without any sign of getting to the Control Brain in sight.  
  
"…Rogue? Anything yet?" Zim asked in a slight worried tone. She shook her head. Zim was starting to grow more and more anxious with ever minute that ticked by.  
  
"This is my favorite show!" Gir said, still watching the holoscreen.  
  
"No, this looks like a bunch of random outdated files…" Rogue repled. "Half of these look like their misplaced too…" At that moment something caught the Irken's eye that made her paused her hacking all together. Zim shot his head towards her noticing she just stopped.  
  
"Why did you stop?!" He went over and looked at the screen. There was an old file with the words "TOP SECERT" labeled across it. "…Rogue, explain!" Zim shouted.  
  
"…This file. ...Look at the name…" Rogue said pointing to the screen. The words read in bold Irken lettering, "Project ROGUE".  
  
"…This is nothing! We have more important things to do!" Zim answered loudly.  
  
Without speaking, Rogue went ahead and opened the file.  
  
"Rogue! What did I just say?!" Zim shouted. She began to read what was in the record outloud as if no one else was in the room. It looked as if half the file was corrupted and lost most of its content, but what was left still seemed to interest Rogue.  
  
"…Irken Empire Year number TR10168. The war between the Irken race and a ruthless race of sentient beings known as "Shadows" continued to go on with no end in sight. By order and leadership of Almighty Tallest Teal, a vital task was carried out to stop the enemy once and for all and to insure the future of the Irken race.  
  
The ROGUE Project (PROJECT ROGUE); the development of a highly skilled, highly powerful Irken warrior capable of destroying the enemy went underway; hidden from the enemy."  
  
Corrupted Area  
"Irken Empire Year number TR10180.5. Irken numbers continue to decrease as the ROGUE Project is finally completed. Tallest Teal rightfully named the newest hope for the Empire…"  
  
Rogue stopped. Zim, who was listening to the whole thing, looked up at the screen to see the name of this Irken."  
  
"…Rogue." He read outloud. The rest of the file was lost.  
  
"…I can't believe this…" The female Irken suddenly uttered.  
  
Zim still wasn't total sure why Rogue was acting this way. He read over the file again and looked at Rogue. He noticed the date of the events; way before his time.  
  
"…Teal…Tallest Teal?" He spoke outloud. "Who is this Teal?"  
  
"I…" Rogue displayed a blank stare. "…Her name sounds familiar to me…"  
  
"Impossible!" Zim said. "Every single Tallest that has ruled has their name and history imprinted into the PAKs of every Irken! It's how we KNOW our past leaders and their actions. How can you say you KNOW this Teal when she clearly isn't real?"  
"…You don't know anything…" Her tone grew flat and kind of lifeless. Zim cocked a brow. "…I never really told anyone this…so feel special." She said; her voice suddenly sounding a tad sarcastic. "I don't recall anything of the first…large portion of my life. The earliest memory I have is meeting with the current Tallest, but ever since I've had a funny feeling that something wasn't right…"  
  
"Again, that's impossible." Zim interpreted. "All memories are-"  
  
"Stored in PAKs?! Guess what?! I CAN'T REMEMBER! Nothing!!" Rogue yelled. Zim's eyes expanded. Rogue continued, "…I've been told I'm just another soldier but now I know that's another lie. …This file proves it. The year TR10180.5 rings a bell to me. …I think that has to be the year I was activated. Between that and meeting the Tallest for the first time…nothing."  
  
Zim was surprised to hear all that. All Irkens should be able to remember the moment they were activated, like he does. But that still didn't answer the question about the female Tallest mentioned in the file.  
  
"…Well…got anything to say now?" Rogue asked.  
  
"…Um……no…" Zim answered. He didn't know what to say.  
  
Suddenly, loudspeakers all over the Massive erupted with Purple's voice.  
"ATTENTION ALL HANDS ON SHIP!!"  
  
Zim and Rogue jumped at the sound, being too deep in their current revelation.  
  
"No…they found out about us?!" Rogue said. She jumped up and unhooked her self. The holoscreen vanished away. "We've got to get out of here!"  
  
Purple's voice continued on the speakers. "Be on the look out for…a huge…bugged eyed…BIG head creature running around the middle levels!! GET RID OF IT!! Uugh, it's so ugly!!"  
  
"MY HEAD'S NOT BIG!!"  
  
A small random explosion from somewhere on the ship followed that last announcement. Zim and Rogue stood there dumbfounded. They know who screamed that familiar statement. In unison, they shouted,  
  
"…DIB!!"  
  
TBC……… 


	16. Failure

**Chapter 15**

**Failure**

"All units! ALL UNITS!! Head down to sector D-17 now! That hairless, big-headed THING was last seen there!" Purple's voice continued to shout through the loud speaker as the whole Massive responded. "GET YOUR BUTTS DOWN THERE AND KILL IT!!! KILL IT!!!"

"They get it! Shut up and turn the microphone off!" Red said over the speaker.

Swarms of Irken soldiers flooded the halls of the great ship, all heading towards one place. Every area of sector D-17 was soon crawling with them within a matter of minutes, all with laser armaments.

Down one hall, two soldiers scanned the surroundings carefully, waiting for anything to catch their eyes. Suddenly both spun around fast to see a shadow run by around the corner.

"STOP YOU! One of them shouted. The other immediately fired a warning shot near the figure. When it didn't stop, both went right after it. As they ran, light from the ship's walkways on the wall hit the darken intruder, and the two soldiers finally got a good look of Dib.

"We said STOP!" The soldiers shouted. They began firing real shots. Feeling the heat from the lasers zoom merely inches away for his head, the Earth boy immediately ran faster for his life. Lucky for him, the soldiers were not as good as aimers as they should be.

Suddenly, two more soldiers who were just roaming the area spotted the chase and joined in with the other two. With four Irkens now chasing him, the lasers continued and the boy pushed himself even more. He spotted a fork in the road; the hallway was spilt into two ways. Thinking quickly, he decided to turn right, which just lead him to a dead end wall.

Dib suddenly had the sick realization that if he tried to turn around now, the Irkens would have him trapped. He could hear them getting closer; shouting out, "We got it now!" He frantically looked around what little area he was in, but all there was were wall. There was an air duct in the ceiling, but he couldn't reach.

The fear was building up inside Dib. He pressed his back to the wall and just froze at the thought of the incoming doom that was coming at him.

The running steps of the soldiers were just about to turn the corner, and Dib's heart felt like it was in his throat. But just before they appeared around the corner, Dib felt a pair of hands grab him on his shoulders. He was quickly lifted up; right into the ceiling duct.

The soldiers came around the corner but were dumbfounded to see the big-headed intruder gone. One of them hand gestured to go the other way. With that, the Irkens turned and went away.

A still shaken Dib watched from the duct as they gone away and the coast was now clear. He let out a hard and long sigh, thankful to still be alive.

"Oh MAN, that was way too close!" He said wiping some nervous sweat off his forehead. He took the moment to catch his breath from the running but it then hit him.

"…How did I get up here anyway?"

At that moment Dib heard something coming from down the vent ways. It was like a low, angry, growling noise. Instant chills went down his spine. He slowly turned his head towards the sound.

The vent was dark but the boy could make out two figures kneeling about a few feet away from him. A smaller figure came from behind one of them with bright, blue glowing eyes. The blue light lit the vent and reveled Zim and Rogue's faces; their fury filled, lethal, 'if looks could kill' faces.

The Earth boy's already wide eyes grew wider at the sight of the two aliens.

Slowly lifting an angry, trembling Irken finger at Dib, Zim and Rogue both hissed, "…Yoooou…"

"Hey! Wait a sec! I don't understand!" Dib suddenly blurted out. "You two just saved me! So why-?"

"SHUT UP!" Rogue shouted. "We did that so WE can have the pleasure of killing you! You messed everything up, you stupid human!"

"You think you could just leave me in that little box! Don't make me laugh!" He replied; although he was trembling in his boots right now.

Zim went up and grabbed Dib by the rim of his T-shirt. "You're MORE idiotic then I could ever have guessed!!" Zim shouted. "How did you get out in the first place?!"

Dib grinned and pushed Zim away from his person. "If you REALLY want to know, I noticed that one of the sides of the box was loose, and I was able to kick it off. Once out, I rubbed against a sharp piece of metal from the box, cutting the ropes and freeing myself." He spoke in a somewhat proud tone.

"And then you just walked out of the ship in front of all those guards?" Rogue said. "You…IDIOT!"

"You do realize that you were way over your head, DIB." Zim said. "Then again, I shouldn't be surprise. You're just as mindless and stubborn as the rest of your meathead kind."

"I voted we just leave him down there you know…" Rogue added.

"I've would have agreed to that…" Zim said. "However, my incredible brain realized he could rat us out at the last second in exchange for his pitiful life!"

"Yeeah..." Rogue said with a thinking look. "…Either way, I would have loved seeing him get shot at…"

"So true…" Zim added.

"Okay, so maybe that was a little stupid to just walk out of the ship…" Dib said loud out to himself.

"Brainless, big-headed, no good, meat-heap; that's all you are…" Rogue mumbled. "So what now? Thanks to Dib, we don't have the time to go back and try again."

"Try what?" Dib asked.

"Keep your mouth trap shut! Or I'll MELT it off!" Rogue warned.

"You're right, Rogue…" Zim said. "Now we can't get in touch with the Control Brain. The more time we're on this ship, the better the chance they'll find us. We have even more soldiers to deal with now."

"Yeah, and their looking for a rat." Rogue commented; her sharp eyes towards Dib. "Do we really have to worry about him causing too much trouble? I say we just toss him in front of those soldiers and see now quickly it takes them to DISMEMBER him."

Dib felt a chill go down his back thanks to Rogue's statement. For Zim, it sounded very tempting.

"…As much as I want to…I WANT to…" Zim reposed. "I...hhhHHAATE…to say this, but we can't."

Rogue uttered an Irken curse under his breath. "Ah, I get it. We're already in too deep to stray away from the original plan, right?"

"…Uh…right! That's just what I meant!" Zim answered. Rogue rolled her eyes. "Anyway, in the mean time Rogue, I'm placing you in charge of watching the Earth boy so he won't get us into anymore trouble."

"You hear that?" Rogue said; getting right in the boy's pale face. "You try anything once, and you become my target practice." She patted one of her laser gems for effect.

"Now, how are we going to carry this out with the current situation?" Zim said to himself. "…We could find some way to buy ourselves more time to-"

"Forget that." Rogue interrupted. "It's too risky. The Tallest are probably wondering where I am now. And I bet the Control Brain room is more guarded then before."

Zim growled under his breath. "Then we have no other chose. We have to change our plans a little…" The Irken crossed his arms in a thinking manner. After about two minutes of that, he tried to ponder by rubbing his chin. And when that didn't work, he attempted by hitting his head repeatedly with both fist. Dib found this rather humorous, despite the danger he was in. He let out a few small snickers.

"And what are you laughing at…?" Rogue hissed to Dib. Her lasers started humming with energy.

"N-Nothing!" Dib replied; backing away from the slightly unstable female alien.

Zim halted from his self-inflicting head hitting which Gir was getting quite a little kick out of. His antennas shot up. He threw a "SHH" to the other two. A faint sound of foot steps was heard followed by voices.

"We have company." Rogue whispered.

"YAAAY!!" Gir bellowed. Zim slapped his hand over the crazy robot's mouth, then signaled Dib and Rogue to move out.

"What? Me too?" Dib asked. Before he could add to that a cold metal hand clutched his shoulder and spun him around.

"We'll let you continue being alive for now human." Rogue stated. "Just keep your noise hole shut." The boy nodded his head; smart move. They headed deeper through the exhaust ways.

Meanwhile....

In the main cockpit, the Tallest were still sending announces and asking the Irkens at the controls if there were any sign of the big headed trespasser.

"Still no sign of it?!" Red shouted. "What are we paying you people for?!"

"You don't pay-" One Irken started but was abruptly interrupted when his rejecting seat send him flying through a hidden exit on the ceiling.

"…He had it coming to him." Purple declared; removing his finger from the REJECT button.

"As I was saying…" Red continued. "…Find that thing and get it off this ship!" Everyone nodded and got back to it.

"Eeeugh! Just thinking of that thing makes my skin crawl!" Purple said. "It could be carrying some kind of flesh eating bug."

"Doubt that." Red blurred under his breath. "…Hey, has anyone seen Rogue lately?"

"Uh?" Purple looked up and at Red. "We haven't heard from her for a while."

"That's weird." Red said. "She normally comes by periodically to see if we have anything for her to do."

"I know! I thought we had her trained well." Purple added.

Suddenly becoming a little suspicious, Red swung his hand out and brought a little control panel up from the floor. After pressing a few buttons a screen showed up with a little blinking light. It was a tracker signal.

"So where is she?" Purple asked looking over at the screen.

"…The vent ways?" Red's voice grew puzzled. "What is she doing in there?"

------------------------

Back in said vents the aliens plus one human continued moving. All of the sudden a tiny light flickered on Rogue's PAK. She didn't seem to notice it till Gir pointed it out.

"You gots a blinkie on yer back Rogue."

"What?" The Irken stopped and peeked over her shoulder. "…What the..? What is this?"

"You're not doing that?" Zim asked.

Rogue poked the light a few times before figuring it out. "No! It's my tracker!"

"Tracker?" Zim raised a brow.

"The Tallest placed it on my PAK in the event they couldn't contact me!"

"What?!" Zim's eye's shot up. "Why didn't you shut it off!?"

Rogue tried to turn the light off. When that didn't work she opened the top of her PAK and struggled to remove it manually. Doing so send a quick and painful shock to her and her PAK. "…Ugh…" She recovered before coming to the conclusion, "…Those liars! I could kill myself if I tried to remove this! They told me I could take it right off!"

"Your leaders lied to you?" Dib butted it.

"Not now, human!" Zim snapped. "This is bad! They'll find us in no time now!"

"How could I be so careless!?" Rogue said slamming her fist at the vent walls. "That tears it! I'm going after them!"

"What about our plan?!" Zim shouted.

"Forget it! Deal's off!" Rogue said.

"NO! We're still going with the original plan!" Zim protested. "We've come too far to-"

Rogue was up in Zim's face within seconds; staring back at him with a stone cold look.

"The deal…is OFF."

That gaze in her eyes; the look of solid determination. In that brief moment it was as if the souls of the two Irkens touched. Zim could feel Rogue's vigor surging. She was dead serious about going off on her own. Even he in all his life has he seen such liveliness in some one.

He slowly backed off; his eyes locked on the female cybrog's powerful stare. Without saying another word, Rogue went on passing Zim.

'…I screwed up. This isn't anyone's fight but mine. I don't care what happens to that minute Irken now…I don't….I…' Rogue's thoughts raced though her head like crazy. Behind her Zim looked a little shaken from Rogue's reaction to the situation.

He looked back; she was already gone from his sight. She went off to face them alone.

In the middle of all this, Dib was even more confused then before. With Rogue no longer with then, he felt now he could start asking.

"…What's this all about? Aren't you going to go after her?" The boy asked. Zim didn't answer. This 'response' surprised Dib. He asked again. "Hey, why aren't you-?"

"It's not my problem anymore!" Zim finally replied. Dib's eyes widened. The alien then started walking the way they were going before; signaling Gir to come along. They left the Dib human where he was, which he felt was a little odd.

"I don't get it…" Dib said out loud to him. "I guess Irkens are a race where it's every man for himself."

Zim stopped and turned around to face him. The human was gearing for him to strike back with some rude and crude remark. But instead of that, he got something different.

"…Every Irken's has a purpose to fulfill in their lives. If that purpose isn't meant, then their lives are seen as worthless. It's a powerful instinct that every one of us has. …Rogue is willing to risk it to meet hers; weather it was her original programming or not."

Dib didn't know what to say at that point. Zim then continued saying,

"She's made it clear; she doesn't want me to follow her…it's that simple. You happy?"

"…She's meeting up with your leaders though, right?" Dib said. "I'm not sure just what is going on, but I'm guessing your "Tallest" have done something that…I don't know…you don't like? Er something?"

"It's a long story, so just drop it." Zim answered coldly. "It's none of your business!" He pressed his back against the vent wall.

Gir looked upward at his master. He tugged on his uniform like a little child. "Where was Rogue going??" Obviously he wasn't paying attention.

Zim acted like he was ignoring his SIR. The truth was he was too deep in thought at the moment. The instant his and Rogue's eyes meant like that before there was something else he felt beside her ambition. It was a feeling in the pit of his insides; he just couldn't place it.

------------------------

Rogue has made it to the front of the Massive. She was still hiding in the vents; down beneath her the floor was crawling with guards. So far she hasn't been detected but with every passing second she was putting herself in even more danger.

And at the same time she couldn't get a certain Irken out of her head. It was beginning to cloud her train of thought. 'I can't get him involved now. I'm the one that blown my cover, not him.' She rested on the vent floor; taking a breather before she had to make her move. '…Besides…I don't care about…' In her own mind she hesitated that consideration. She mentally slapped herself out of it when more Irkens began to gather right under her. She's finally been discovered.

"HEEYAAAHH!!"

The Irken cybrog kicked the bottom of the vent open; landing on the group of guards. In the state of confusing she jumped on top of them and ran off.

"Was that Rogue?!" One of them asked.

"Yeah, but what was she doing up-"

Suddenly a few lasers were fired towards Rogue which she easily dodged. The two Irkens looked at each other puzzled. Another came up behind them saying, "Hey, we just got an order! We're to stop Rogue from reaching the Tallest!"

------------------------

A new set of alarms began to sound off through out the ship. The noise made Zim and company jump. The male Irken rushed over to the vent opening and peeked through. A flood of solders went running by towards the front.

"She's at the front! We can't let her get through!" One of the soldiers shouted as they stormed off.

"……" Zim backed away from the vent gate. That look on Rogue's face came back into his mind.

'The deal is OFF!' Those words repeated in his head. He tried to shake it off but he was having a hard time doing so. He attempted to tell himself that it was done with; she doesn't want to be followed; she didn't need any help, and she didn't want to complete their plan. But a little voice in the back of his head began to nag on one thing he wished wasn't the case.

"…I can't do this alone…"

Dib rose his head up. "What was that?" Gir looked up at his Master.

"I'm going after her!" Zim bolted off; knocking Dib over and hitting the vent wall. The rivets broke through and the human fell back first on the floor. Lucky for him the guards and everyone were gone.

"Hey!" Dib shouted back up but Zim as well as his SIR was already gone.

------------------------

Purple and Red were surrounded by a few dozen panicking Irkens; running around screaming they were all gonna die. The Tallest just sat in their seats shaking their heads.

Just outside the steel door to the room Rogue was being the source of the panic. She was plowing through the guards and security like bowling pins. A few laid slumped against the walls while others were being thrown in the air by the she-alien's vast, raw strength.

"Let me through!" Rogue shouted. She had completely abandoned the whole sneaking around thing. She was in the middle of an all out fight to get to the Tallest and it seemed like no one would stop her.

One soldier stood up; battered and bruised and faced Rogue with laser aimed. He didn't even have time to put the trigger. Rogue was over and cuffed him one more. He fell back down.

"And stay down!" She said. You could see the fury in her deep purple eyes as she walked up to the door leading to her goal. The Irkens that were left standing were to scare to pursuit her any longer. They let her pass.

"She's coming through…! We couldn't stop her!" One of the fallen Irkens spoke into his transmitter. Rogue opened the door.

------------------------

Zim and Gir raced through the halls following the trail of injured and/or unconscious Irkens. Just a few feet behind them Dib was trying to the keep up. He wasn't going to let them leave him again and make him lose the chance to get off this 'nut-ship', even if that meant following Zim into whatever he was going to get into.

Zim could finally see the end of the hall and also the doors to the cockpit closing with Rogue going through them.

"Rogue!" He called out. But when he got to the entrance it closed in his face. A 'click' sound was heard before he tried to open it up again. "She locked it!" He started pounding on the steel doors but she didn't respond.

Dib finally caught up and saw Zim pounding away and Gir joining in by whacking his tin head against it.

"What happened?" He said; catching his breath.

"She locked it. Now stay out of my business human!" Zim shouted. He tried again with the laser his metal legs were packing. He continued to fire away, just starting the melt away the steel.

------------------------

Inside everyone was huddled up in one corner of the room trembling while Rogue stood with eyes scanning the area. They stopped dead center where the Tallest were still sitting at their little seats like nothing happened.

"……" The female slowly approached them with death looming in her eyes.

"Rooogue! We were a little worried where you were." Red spoke up, but his tone of voice wasn't anything 'worried'. "You didn't show up for sometime so I gave you a ring on you tracker. I see you got your message…"

"And I can't get the thing off." She answered. "You two MADE it so I couldn't get it off without hurting myself."

"Well, we didn't want you to lose it!" Purple said. "Those things don't come cheap, you know."

"Funny…you two mentioned something about me being a little too powerful and you may not need me anymore…" Rogue got closer to them without breaking a sweat. "You two were planning on disposing of me after I came back from my mission from Earth! You can't lie to me, I heard it all!"

"She heard it?" Purple asked Red.

"……So you did." Red said. He stood up and hovered to Rogue. She stopped and tried to contain the rage growing within her. "And you've come back to beg for your life?"

"Hardly." She answered. The gems in her arms began to glow and hum. The Irken pilots huddled closer fearing the end. Purple too was a little spooked by the female's actions, but Red was doing the best at staying calm.

"You can't hurt us." He said.

"That's what you think!" Rogue lunged towards Red with arms stretched outward and fired. The shot was aimed at Red's head, but it was suddenly and quickly defected back at her. Rogue was hit in the gut with her own laser and fell flat on her back. The blast only left a burned mark on her outfit; her skin was a lot more durable then a normal Irken's. She stood back up with a confused look on her face.

"…How?!" She gazed up at the Tallest and noticed something covering his body. It was nearly invisible and like a gloss when the light hit it.

"Protective shield." Red said with a little grin on his face. "He has one too so don't get any ideas." He pointed at Purple. The other Tallest's face perked in remembering that and active his shield as well.

"Blast you…!" Rogue cursed.

"You wish!" Purple laughed.

Rogue got back to her feet and stared up at the taller aliens. Without giving it too much though she placed her wrist together. One of the Irkens in the corner let out a scream and covered his head. The Tallest's eyes grew wide as they watched the cybrog form her most powerful and destructive weapon; the Pulse Cannon.

"Wait! You can't use that here!" Purple said with sweat forming on his forehead. "The kick in that thing could blow up the whole ship!"

"You would kill yourself to get rid of us?" Red asked; doing his best not to freak out like his ruling partner. "You do know that could happen if you us that."

"I bet I would make it…" Rogue answered. She sounded dead serious, but something occurred her. Someone else was on board.

'If I fire this cannon, he would be killed along with everything and everyone on this ship…' She thought. 'I…I've come this far! I'm sure their puny shields couldn't hold up a blast from this! …But…'

The very thought of wiping out the whole ship plus crew was very unsettling to Rogue. But that alone wasn't the real reason her Pulse Cannon wouldn't fire. He was still on the ship; at least she knew he was still on, but he could have got off in the confusing. But what if he didn't?

"…ugh." Rogue defused her cannon and hung her head.

"Hm? You give up?" Red asked.

Rogue was just about to answer when a loud crashing sound made her spin around to see Zim, Gir and Dib standing in the doorway. The tips of Zim's lasers were smoking from exhaustion.

"Finally!!" Zim shouted and retracted his metal legs.

"Honey, I'm HOME!!" Gir screamed.

"BE QUIET!" Zim shouted once more.

Red and Purple's jaws dropped. "YOU! You should be DEAD!! Why aren't you dead?!" Purple yelled.

"I didn't kill him like you said!" Rogue immediately answered.

"You didn't follow your orders?!" Red shouted. "…This situation a bit more serious then I thought."

"For you two, you mean." Rogue said with gritted teeth.

"I can't believe he ain't gone!" Purple cried. Red slapped him across the face.

Zim walked up next to Rogue and shot his finger towards his leaders. "You two are about to see just how dangerous it is to provoke ZIM! I know everything now! It's all been a lie!"

The two tall alien's eyes shot wide. "You're kidding me…it finally clicked?!" Red said. He stared down at the smaller Irkens before letting out a slight snicker. "…Heheh…I guess there's a first time for anything…but that won't change the fact that you're still a annoying, troublemaking shrimp of an Irken!"

Purple busted out in laughter. "He's gonna provoke on his! What a joke!"

Zim's face grew stunned. His fist began to tremble followed by the rest of his body. Next to him the female alien noticed this and could feel for him fully. The rage once again was building up within her, but this time it was because how the Tallest were speaking towards Zim. It was doing something to her…

"SHUT UP!!" Rogue screamed. Purple stopped his laughter and Red just gazed at her with a bold look. She took a few more steps forward. "I won't stand here and let you two sorry excuses for leaders put him down! Just because you're the Tallest shouldn't let you decide how he should think of himself! Zim has more zeal for himself and his goal then anyone I've seen! One more word about him and I'll tear you apart!!"

The room was quiet for a while after Rogue's outburst. Everyone, even the human tagging along in the background was shocked at the alien's words and way she spoke them. Dib reflected on them. '…If I didn't know any better…I'd say she does care what Zim's doing…'

Zim was bowled over from Rogue's speech. Just a few minutes ago she sounded like she couldn't care less about what he did or how he would do it. But here she was, proclaiming her…was it respect? Maybe. But something else was there. It was faint, but Zim was getting an odd feeling; from the pit of his insides again.

Red finally broke the silence saying, "…What is it you see in this loser?"

"I swear…I WILL kill you if you don't clam up!" Rogue said with in a powerful tone. "DON'T test me!"

"I'd wouldn't if our lives were in danger." Red smirked and bumped Purple with his shoulder. The other Tallest gave his evil looking smile and nodded in agreement. "I guess you should be reminded of your place, Rogue. Do we have to refresh your memory?"

"Memory…?" Rogue worded out. She remembered that file Zim and she found in the Control Brain room. "…Yeah, about that. …Just what is my real memories?"

The Tallest looked at each other confused. "Just what kind of question is that?" Purple asked. "What you know and remember is all true. We didn't do anything to change that."

"Liars!" Rogue shouted.

"It's true; we've done nothing to your memories Rogue." Red answered. "…We just found you one day in a life support system."

"…Wa-what??" Rogue's eyes changed.

"They 'found' her?" Zim said to himself.

"Oh yeah, we never told you." Purple said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "It was on a salvage trip to a large floating asteroid in one of the Irken sectors not too far from here. The rock looked like it was used for some Irken ground base or something. Funny we never heard of it, but that's beside the point. During the salvage you were found floating in an outdated life support system! The date of that system was marked MR. 10205."

"…That's when Tallest Miyuki began ruling!" Zim spoke up. "That would make Rogue about…75 years old?"

"Nah, she's older then that." Red interrupted. Rogue was stunned at what she was hearing. This whole time the Tallest knew about this but they never told her. Red continued, "…At least that what the basic scan said. When we revitalized her and scanned her PAK for ID all we got was her name. Everything else was gone. Her deep encoding says she's from sometime before Miyuki, but there isn't any way of pinpointing her real age or propose."

"…Teal." Rogue suddenly spoke up.

"What?" The two leaders said.

"Tallest Teal! There's a file talking about a past Tallest named Teal! And the file was named the ROGUE Project!"

"We don't know what you're talking about." Red answered. "And further more, there was never a Tallest by that name! You must be malfunctioning."

"No!" Rogue raised her arm and brought up a hologram screen with said file. "It's right here! Some of the information is damaged, but there states a 'Tallest Teal' and even a war the Irkens fought! How can you say she didn't exist!?"

Red took a look at the screen but wasn't impressed. "This could have been thought up by anyone and placed in the main files. It's nothing but a myth; a tall tale."

Rogue turned the screen off and darted towards Red with angry eyes. "It's NOT a myth!" She jumped up at Red's eye level and delivered a roundhouse style kick. The shield protecting the Tallest suddenly cracked and warped. The attack forced itself through the shield and connected to Red's jaw.

The leader was thrown backwards into one of the control panels. Purple's face went white as he watched Red stagger back up; his hover bent broken and he was standing on his own two feet.

Zim and company were taken aback from Rogue display of raw power. One kick from her was enough to destroy a Tallest's personal barrier.

"Please don't hurt me!" Purple begged. Rogue didn't obey and started walking towards him as well. The Tallest hovered back; fearing for his life. Red was back up; touching the side of his face. There was a large bruise mark where Rogue kicked him. He was not amused anymore.

"I guess we underestimated you for your loyalty…" He stated.

"I should have never been loyal to you in the first place." She replied.

"You don't know the mess you just got yourself into, Rogue." Red said.

"You got that backwards!" Rogue shouted and activated her lasers once again.

Zim's body went tensed as he continued watching this war of words turning into something more. 'This could be it!' He thought with a sense of hope building up. His revenge and Rogue's would be fulfilled. He wanted to jump in and help but he felt that Rogue had it in the bag from this point.

"I'm finishing this!" The cybrog shouted. She bolted towards the Tallest with her gems on fire with a red glow. Purple immediately went into a panic but Red was calm.

"You've overstepped your boundaries." Red raised his claw up. Rogue PAK suddenly gave off a piercing alarm sound. The female Irken was stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes shot wide open. Her whole body gave out and she fell before the Tallest's feet.

"Rogue?!" Zim shouted. Without thinking he ran over to take a look at her. He was right in front of the Tallest but that didn't seem to bother him. He got a good look at Rogue's face. He stepped back with a horrified look.

Her eyes were void of any life…

TBC………


	17. That 4 Letter Feeling

**Chapter 16**

**That 4 Letter Feeling**

"…Rogue?"

An unknown feeling suddenly took over Zim. He stood there staring into Rogue's empty eyes. His body lost all its feeling from the hips down and he fell to his knees. Without thinking he reached his hand out and touched her face. Her skin was cold to the touch.

In the background Dib and Gir watched and waited to see if Rogue was going to stand back up. But the more time that passed the less that seemed likely.

"I had a feeling it would have come to this…" Red spoke up. "She's a danger to us in the first place."

"**What did you do?" **Zim exploded. His outburst took the Tallest back a bit.

"What is it to you?" Purple asked. "I wouldn't be so worried about some cybrog if I were you right now, Zim."

The small Irken deployed his metal legs and rose above the Tallest. "You may have authority over all of the Irken army but you don't have the right to annihilate one of your own fighters!"

"Fighters?" Red said. They started laughing to Zim's little speech. "What makes you think we cared about that machine in the first place?"

"Yeah, we don't even know when she was created!" Purple added. "And if you knew just what she can do, you'd want to have her shut down yourself."

"Wait…" Zim suddenly calmed down and called back his metal legs. "…Did you say, 'shut down'?"

"Haven't you been listening?" Red said. "Of course you haven't. Rogue is a cybrog; a battling weapon. That was the most we could get out of her for not knowing where or what happened to her real data report. We discovered this shortly after she was found…"

**FLASHBACK**

The Irken Training Bay on Planet Devastis.

In the main training vicinity stood one of the largest battle domes; used to test Irkens training to be the elite soldiers for the Irken army.

In the center stood Rogue; her head down, eyes close, focusing. Up above her behind glass were the Tallest a small team of observers.

"Are we ready?" Red said. The observers nodded their heads. "Begin."

A steel door opened below and a horde of Rat People came crawling out. There stood to be about fifty or more swarming around Rogue who still had her head down. The Tallest above watched and waited.

Out of no where one of the Rat People screamed in pain and fell dead on the floor. The Tallest had to look twice. Seconds later three more rats were slaughtered in the same manner. Rogue was standing on top of one of them with her gems glowing. The rest of the rats came after her in one group. She opened fire without moving from her spot. Minutes after the monsters were let loose on her she had killed every last one, and without breaking a sweat.

The Irkens behind the glass were speechless. The Tallest as well. Rogue turned up at them and they flinched. She looked up at them with the same focused glare she used on the rats.

'We knew then we could test her even further…'

The next flashback is set in space. A small drop pod exited from a Irken transport ship and headed for a large asteroid belt. It stopped at the edge of the belt and its hatch doors flew open. Rogue came jetting out and advanced into the asteroids. In any other situation this would be a stupid move but that didn't turn out to be so.

Once in the belt, the cybrog began to fight off the rocks; punching and blasting them into space dust. Each one that came after her was bigger then the last but that didn't seem to make a difference at all.

Suddenly one the size of a planet came on to her by surprise and Rogue was rammed with it. She was carried a few hundred feet before there was a blinding glow and then an exploding blast from her gems. She reduced the rock into pebbles.

From a far and safe distance within the Massive, the Tallest were watching Rogue ever move on screen. The other Irkens there were frightened by the power this female alien was displaying. No one in their right mind would go in the middle of a asteroid belt and expect to defend themselves like she was doing.

The Tallest watched carefully as Red then says, "She's good."

"She very good." Purple added.

The crimson colored Tallest thought to himself. 'She could be very useful…'

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"…And that just what we used her for." Red continued. "She's done numerous small jobs as well as Organic Sweeps on smaller planets along our route! And not once did she asked or question where she came from. But we knew that wasn't going to last."

"We had a feeling sooner or later she would realize she is very powerful, a little **too **powerful." Purple started. "We were going to find a way to destroy her but we then decided she had to do **one** more job."

Zim grit his teeth. "You send her to Earth to kill me!"

"Yup." Purple answered.

"And it would have gone perfectly!" Red said an irritated tone. "We didn't think she would catch on and return like this, along with **you**, Zim."

"Now that you're done with your little story, undo what you did to here!" Zim shouted.

"No." Red said flatly. "We're still not done with her." He hovered over to Rogue and picked her up by the back of her uniform. Her body was limp and lifeless.

Zim stared at her and suddenly got a sick feeling in his insides. He almost felt like throwing up seeing Rogue like this. It was slowly becoming unbearable for him.

"I think this little conversation is over with…" Purple said. "**Guards**!"

The remainder of what Rogue took care of earlier burst in with armed lasers. Two Irkens grabbed Dib from behind. The human struggled but to no avail. Gir just stood there and waved at the guards while one of them picked him up by his antenna.

Two more ran up to Zim and aimed their lasers at his head. "Move and we will shoot!" One of them warned.

Everything finally started to crumble down around Zim. His insides were twisted. He started to sweat and tremble. He was so confused at that moment and all because he was watching Rogue's lifeless looking body hanging from the Tallest's grip.

Zim curled his hands into fists.

"I said don't move!" The guard repeated. They placed their artillery closer to his head.

"**NO!**"

Zim's metal legs shot out from his PAK and smacked both guards in the face. The lasers went off and just missed Zim's head by inches. He rose high above Red and Purple glaring down at them.

"**I'LL KILL YOU!"**

One of the last two Irkens ran up and fired at Zim's back metal legs. The laser melted the limb and caused Zim to lose his balance. He fell flat on his back and got pined down by the guard. He flailed and thrashed while screaming and cursing at the Tallest.

Never in his life has Dib seen Zim react like this even after all the battles and verbal fights he's been through with him. He wasn't being the dense and thick-headed alien he knew and been trying to expose to the world. For the first time he saw Zim anger; really **very **angry.

"Take them away!" Red ordered.

The Irken guards exited the room with the three at gunpoint. As Zim left he took one last look back at the Tallest and then at Rogue. He felt like someone had just took his innards and ripped them out then stuffed them back in again. He couldn't explain what just happened that cause himself to lose it like that at the risk of getting killed. For that one instant, he didn't care if he got killed. He just didn't know why.

The Tallest watched until Zim and others disappeared from their sights. The Irkens at the controls breathed a sigh of relief at see it was finally over and none of them got fired or blown up.

Red looked down at Rogue with sharpen eyes. "…Things got a little out of hand."

"What should we do now?" Purple asked.

A smirk appeared on Red's face. "I think we can fix this, and I know just how…"

* * *

"**RELEASE ME!**" Zim shouted.

Zim, his SIR and Dib were thrown into one of the small prisoner rooms aboard the ship, which are used for any opposing aliens the Irkens might pick up during planet sweeps. The small Irken has been ranting and raving since they were put in there and didn't look like he was about to stop.

"I order you to set me free! **Right now!**" Zim commanded the two guards standing outside the room.

"Forget it." One of them answered.

In a rage Zim started to slam his fist on the door which was completely futile. His PAK was damaged during the struggle with the guards and he couldn't get his extra legs or built-in lasers to work.

Dib sat in the corner watching his rival. He wanted to ask him about what happened back with his leaders and just what was all this about. He didn't know if he had any chance of escape but he was still drawn to understand the situation he was in.

As for Gir he was hopping on his head in the other corner; total unaware of the condition they were in.

"…Let…me…out!" Zim collapsed to the floor. Utterly exhausted, he stood up on all fours and kept his head towards the ground. Now that he looked worn out, Dib felt now was the best time to start asking questions.

"…Something isn't right." He started.

Zim slowly lifted his head and looked at him. "What was that, human?" He didn't sound interested at all but Dib continued anyway.

"I mean you. You seem a little more…How do I say this…?" Dib placed his hand on his chin. "…Angry."

Zim leaped to his feet and got in the boy's face. "Of course I'm angry! You foolish meat-child!" He back off and went back to the door. He kicked it to relief some more rage.

"…You were a fool to hide in my ship." Zim suddenly spoke. "You do know there's little to no hope of you getting out of here alive."

"..Yeeeah." Dib didn't want to admit that Zim was right about that. "But I'm still not clear on what is going on with you and your leaders. Did you betray them or something? Or is this about that other Irken?"

Zim didn't reply right away to that. He debated to himself weather or not it would matter to tell Dib anymore. "…I could you could say I betrayed them, yes. And maybe you could also say this about Rogue." He stopped and the image of Rogue hanging from Red's claws came back to him. He felt like throwing up again.

Gir came walking up to Zim and grinned at him. "I think you miss Rogue!" He cooed

"Nonsense, Gir! Irkens don't miss anything!" The way Zim said that didn't sound like him. He didn't mean to say that but it came out anyway.

"You did get really upset when your leaders did what they did…" Dib said.

"What do I care!" Zim shouted. Once again, didn't sound like he wanted it to.

Dib began to notice this. "…I think you're lying." He said with a slight curiosity look.

"**NEVER!**" Zim snapped back.

"You say Irkens don't care or miss anything, yet you went crazy when you saw what the 'Tallest' did to Rogue." Dib debated. "What would you call that then?"

Zim was growing more and more irritated with all the human's questions. If his lasers were working he would have blasted Dib into the wall. But nonetheless, he gave the only answer he could give.

"…I don't know."

Dib became even more interested in Zim's response. He tried to put two and two together and the only thing that came out of it seemed apparent, yet it couldn't have been the case.

"No, it can't be." Dib said out loud.

"What can't be?" Zim said with a weird look.

"Nothing. Forget it." The human said.

"You know what's ailing me, don't you!" Zim said spontaneously. "You **know**!"

"_Ailing _you?" Dib answered.

Zim grabbed Dib by his shirt and got back into his face. "You putrid Earth stink! Did you unleash some kind of Earth sickness on me! **DID YOU!**"

"**WHAT! NO!**" Dib said. A sudden realization hit Dib. "…Wait a second! …Then I was right!"

"With what!" Zim shouted. He shook Dib. "**ANSWER ME!**"

Before Dib could respond Gir did that for him.

"**IT'S L-O-V-E!"**

"What!" Zim dropped Dib and faced the little robot. "What is this about, Gir!"

"Master and Rogue! Sitting in da tree!" Gir shouted. "S-M-O-O-C-H-ING!"

"Gir, stop being idiotic!" Zim barked. He didn't understand what Gir was clearly implying.

"Don't tell me you don't get it?" Dib said getting back up. "Don't Irkens have…you know?"

"What is it I know?" Zim asked.

Dib slapped himself on the forehead. "…Ok, let me ask this then. How are Irkens born?"

Zim gave Dib a funny look. "I don't know what the point of asking that is, but if you want to know, we are all born from birthing tubes and claws."

"Tubes and claws?" Dib said puzzled. "Are you saying Irkens aren't born…in any other way?"

"Of course not!" Zim answered. "We can't be produced in…" Zim stopped and let it sunk in. "…**Eeew! **Are you asking if we-"

"Yes!" Dib said.

"**NO! **Irkens have no mean for that!"

"But it's pretty clear now with Rogue…"

"And that would be…?"

"**LOVE!" Gir shrieked in Zim's face. "RED HEARTS AND MUSHY CARDS!"**

"Mushy? Hearts?" Zim repeated. "…Love?"

It finally hit him.

Zim **screamed **and went into a panic. Dib and Gir just watched and found this kind of amusing.

"**IT'S A LIE!" Zim screamed at the top of his lungs. "This isn't right! I can't be feeling affection! It's all wrong!"**

"Hey, don't tell me that." Dib said.

"**It's all so beautiful!" Gir cooed**

"**SILENCE GIR!" Zim shouted.**

**

* * *

**

On the other side of the Massive was a small research lab. During some travels there would often times be samples picked up from random planets for study.

The sliding doors to the lab opened and the Tallest hovered in. The Irkens in lab coats looked up surprised to see their leaders in this area of the ship.

One of the Irkens went up and greeted them. "My Tallest, what can we do for you?" She asked.

Red held up a still unconscious Rogue to the scientists. Everyone in the room looked at one another murmuring something. The Tallest placed her on the floor in front of the Irken's feet.

"This cybrog has been reposing against her orders." Red said. "We want to so she won't do it again."

"Isn't this the Irken known as Rogue? The 'Living Weapon', or something like that?" The female scientist asked.

"Yeah, we found her a few years back on that rock, remember?" One of the others said in the background.

Red brought his arm up and took something out from the pod around his hand. He handed a small microchip to the Irken. "Fix this so she can only act on our commands only, got it?"

The scientist displayed a slight stunned expression. She took the chip and agreed to do so. The Tallest then left.

A male Irken came up and asked the female, "What's the matter?"

"…They want us to make it so Rogue is completely under their control." She answered. She looked down at Rogue. They knew the Tallest must had used the built in override to make she shut down.

"She must have done something big to want them to go this far…" The male Irken stated. "We better get to work."

* * *

Back in the prisoner quarters Zim had finally started calming down. Gir was grinning from ear to ear seeing his Master acting the way he was. Dib was still trying to pry more information from Zim.

"So…Irkens don't have nor understand the feelings of-"

"Will you fasten that hole in your head!" Zim shouted. "I have enough to be sick about right now and I don't' need your disgusting questions to make it worst!"

Gir walked up and tucked on Zim's uniform. "Luv not sickie…"

"Gir, please…not now." Zim pleaded. He could feel another headache coming on.

"Warm fuzzy is good!" Gir continued. He wrapped himself around Zim's legs and didn't let go.

"**GIR!" Zim tried to shake the SIR off.**

"Master don't like being alone…" Gir added.

The line made Zim stop. Dib looked up with cocked eyebrow.

"Master like Rogue cuz he then not lone!" The little robot proclaimed.

"…I can't believe I'm saying this…" Dib started. "…but maybe he's right."

"How?" Zim asked sternly.

"Your leaders and I bet the rest of your race, hate your guts." Dib said. Zim didn't like that. "So maybe having someone that…you can relate to is something you…like, or something/" He stopped knowing he wasn't making much sense.

"Rogue isn't hated by…" Zim stopped midway. He thought about it for a moment. The Tallest called her a weapon, not an Irken, and they didn't care what happened to her. In fact they're afraid of her. She's different; maybe even an outcast to some.

Zim sunk to the floor. Finally a few things started to make sense to him. He's hated by most; Rogue is feared and misunderstood. He's much smaller then normal; Rogue is different in an organic view, being part robotic and all. All this and a few other factoids add up to one thing…

"We both stand out from the rest." Zim said out loud. "…And no matter what we do, we're not appreciated!"

"Soooo…" Gir looked up at him with wide glossy eyes. "Do you **like** her!"

Zim suddenly froze up. He looked down at Gir, then at Dib. He could feel his face getting warm.

"……**AAAAHH!" **Gir abruptly screamed.

"**WHAT! WHAT!" Zim jumped.**

"Yer **RED!**" Gir stuck his finger in Zim's face.

Zim felt his face. It was hot and flush. Dib's eyes grew wide; he's never seen his rival look like this before. He couldn't help be start snickering to Zim's utter embarrassment.

"**BE QUIET!" Zim shouted, but it only made it funnier with his red face.**

Outside the prison where the two guards stood another Irken came up to them with a message.

"The Tallest have ordered to take Zim over to hanger one." He said.

"Hanger one? They aren't planning to let him go are they?" One guard asked.

"Hey, I'm just a delivering the message." He said. "Let's see him."

The doors opened and the guards walked in aimed. Zim was still red in the face but stopped his ranting when he saw them walk in.

"Irken Zim, come with us."

"Where are we going?" Zim asked with sharpen eyes.

"Shut up and let's go." They said pointing their lasers. Zim complied.

They walked out with the one Irken leaving Gir and Dib in the cell.

"Hey! What about me?" Dib called out.

One guard looked back and answered, "Don't worry, I sure you'll be next!"

That didn't settle well on Dib's ears.

* * *

Zim was lead to the front hanger bay of the Massive. The area was completely empty; there weren't even any ships in the parking sections. The guards left him alone in there with no clue as to why.

"What is going on here?" Zim asked himself.

He walked towards the front where the ship opened up and the ships took off. A large glass window displayed the wonders of space outside. It was an eerie quiet.

"Well, well Zim. I bet you're confused now, uh?"

A voice boomed into the room that caused Zim to spin around. A huge hovering screen came down with the Tallest's faces on it. It was Red's voice he just heard.

"What is this about!" Zim shouted at the screen.

"Relax, we just have a little surprise for you, for all the hard work you've done for us and the Empire." Purple stated.

"…" Zim glared up at the Tallest. "…Somehow, I don't think that's the case here, is it?"

"Ok, yes. All that before was a big lie, but we just thought you'd be used to it by now." Purple mocked.

"But we do have a surprise for you…" Red added.

The doors to the hanger suddenly swung open and a lone figure walked in. Zim immediately recognized her.

"Rogue!" He stood his ground as the female Irken walked closer to him, not saying anything. "…How did you get away from them?" Zim felt a rather pleasant emotion seeing she was alright. He started moving towards her.

Rogue raised her left arm. Zim stopped just has a hot beam of light flew pass his face. The beam left a minor burn across his face.

"Rogue! Why did you?"

"**Silence!"**

Her voice thundered throughout the bay. On the hover screen the Tallest had evil looking grins on their faces.

Zim touched the side of his face and cringed. He looked at Rogue again and that's when he noticed her eyes; they were still empty and lifeless.

"**By orders of the Tallest…" Rogue's voice was as cold and hollow as her eyes. "…Irken Zim must die."**

**TBC… **


	18. Never Again

**Chapter 17**

**Never Again**

Zim's eyes were fastened upon Rogue. The sinister look in her deep purple eyes seemed to plow into his mind. His legs were frozen though his mind said to walk towards her. Something was holding him back.

"…What happen to…?" Zim started. He stopped and glared up at the Tallest on the monitor screen. They were snickering.

"What did you two do to her?" Zim asked in a serious sound to his voice.

Red regained his composure and answered, "Not much, if you really want to get into it. After all, she isn't like the others with all that bio-cyber built into her."

"What does that have to do with it?" Zim said. He looked at Rogue's eyes again. The shine that should be there was gone; like she was dead.

"She wasn't following our command, so we took measures to fix that problem." Purple said. "All it took was a slight tweak and maybe a few other little things…"

Rogue turned to face the display with the Tallest on it. Zim noticed a strange piece of equipment on her PAK. It was fused to it and had two smaller tubes that looked to be attached to the back of her head.

"…**My Masters."** She said and bowed into front of the screen.** "I will do what you say and kill Irken Zim, if that will bring you amusement."**

"Great!" Purple burst out with a big grin. Red too displayed a smile.

Zim put two and two together. "…An override device."

"That right!" Purple said. "It isn't too hard to make one or to have it installed on a PAK."

"And it was necessary for her." Red added. "She's a danger to us and to anything around her. We just want her to do one more job before we order her complete deletion."

Zim tighten his fist. "The only reason she went against her orders was because she knew you two were going to destroy her after she killed me! But that's changed! Rogue is a superb fighter! You two shouldn't have the right to take that all away! She just wanted to prove herself!" His body began to tremble. "…Like I wanted to prove myself…"

The Tallest suddenly exploded in laughter. "**Prove **yourself!" Red said. "Zim, you are just as dangerous as Rogue, if not more! You've killed off **two **Tallest, caused massive blackouts all through Irk, caused the failure of Operation Impending Doom 1, should I go on!"

"You should have been destroyed the day you were activated, Zim." Purple added.

Those words were like a sword through Zim's chest. He hung his head then fell to his knees.

"Oh, are you begging for forgiveness now?" Purple said sarcastically.

"…let her go…"

"What was that?" Purple asked in a confused tone.

"Could you repeat that?" Red said; in a disrespectful manner.

"I said **LET HER GO!**" Zim screamed at the tops of his voice.

"No." Both Tallest answered flatly.

Zim jolted to his feet and ran towards Rogue. He placed his hands on the override. In a heartbeat, the female Irken raised her arm up and around grabbing Zim by his neck. She slammed him on the floor still clinging to his neck and gripping tighter.

"..gak..GAK…"

"Bravo, Rogue!" Red clapped his claws. "Now don't forget what we told you…"

An eerie smile appeared on Rogue's face. **"…Kill him slowly."

* * *

**

Dib was beginning to lose his nerve. It's only been about fifteen minutes since Zim was dragged away and he hasn't heard anything of what they were planning to do to him. The two guards were still standing outside the door with their guns geared up.

He sat in the middle of the dirty cold floor thinking that by now his enemy was most likely killed by the orders of his rulers. If it was only **just **that, then things wouldn't be so unpleasant at the moment. At the same time, any minute, he could be pulled from the cell and dealt with.

"…Do you have any nachos?"

Dib's head jerked up and saw Gir all in his face. The robot stared at him without even blinking.

"**NACHOS!**" Gir repeated in a high pitched tone.

"Will you shut up!" Dib snapped. Gir tumbled over backwards and landed sitting up still watching the boy. Dib gawk a bit back before he let out a tensed sigh. "…Why didn't they take you away too?"

Gir's blank expression refused to change to his remark.

After a brief moment of silence the little SIR plainly made his way over to the door. He hopped up and gripped the edge of the small bar window.

"What the-? What do you want?" One of the guards said when they noticed Gir's face through the tiny space.

"I want nachos!" He simply put. Dib slowly shook his head at the robot.

"No way. You get nothing!" The Irken replied.

"But…but…" Gir started to cry. "The nachos call meeee!"

"Go away!" The Irken pushed Gir backwards. He fell on his head with a clank sound.

"Just give it up already." Dib replied.

Gir's light blue eyes suddenly turned crimson red. "**NAAAAAAAACHOOOOOOOOS!**"

He rammed his head into the cell door at full speed. The impact startled the guards, even made Dib jump. The little SIR continued to slam his head into the door.

"**NACHO! NACHO! NACHO! NACHO!**"

In the heat of Gir's nacho rage the guards ran off in terror. Then with one finally strike the door ripped off its hinges and flew off, crashing into the opposite wall.

Gir suddenly stopped and stared at what he just did. Dib sat on the floor dumbfounded.

"………" The boy was utterly speechless.

"Yaaaaay, I can't feel my head!" Gir screamed before falling backwards.

"We're free!" Dib jumped to his feet and ran out the door. He looked around. "…I don't see those guards anywhere…" He looked back at Gir. "You scared them off…"

The robot sat up with his dented head. "Can I have my nachos now?"

* * *

Zim's body slammed into the cold metal wall. The force wrapped and bent the steel in the shape of his body. His vision was distorted; pain tearing every component of his being. He fell face first on the floor as Rogue slowly came treading towards him once more.

The Irken fought to lift his head but it was forced back down by Rogue's boot. In a flash her other boot came in contact with Zim's side. A cluster of cracking bones echoed into the room. A high pitched scream escaped from Zim's lungs.

Displayed on the screen behind them the Tallest were in their glory watching this unfair battle.

"Hey, are we recording this?" Purple suddenly asked.

"Are you kidding?" Red answered. "I want to have this for future enjoyment!"

His hearing was beginning to go, but Zim heard what the two were talking about. He laid there with his body busted up beyond words and they were enjoying every bit of it. It made him feel sick.

'…Why does this be…?' The Irken thought. '…This…this shouldn't be happening! …It's all their fault…using Rogue again…'

He opened his eyes but was only welcomed by Rogue's hand. She gripped his face and lifted him up; digging her claws into his skin. Zim was already numb from everything else. He could barely feel the pain this time.

"…**You won't last much longer."** The female Irken spoke with a dark grin on his face.

With what strength Zim had left he raised his arms and placed both hands on Rogue's wrists. He tried to shake himself loose but it was hopeless. He was too weak and she was too strong.

Laughter echoed throughout the area from the viewing screen. The Tallest were busting a gut over Zim's desperate struggle.

"What an idiot!" Red guffawed with tears in his eyes.

"He believes he can break free!" Purple followed.

As the two tall ones continued their mockery, Rogue prepared to wrap up the show. With the hand gripping Zim's face the gem embedded in it began to glow red. Zim's eyes shot open.

'**NO!'**

Instinct kicked in just in time. Sparks started flying out of his damaged PAK. The only function that was still working was the Jet-Pack. He summoned that and aimed the engines towards Rogue. In a fiery blast Zim jetted backwards with Rogue still hanging on to his face. They both ran into the gateway leading outside. The sudden impact shook Rogue loose; just as her laser fired. The discharge hit the glass windows of the gate.

The heat shattered all the windows. In seconds the pressure outside imploded the gateway and tore it off the Massive. The entire hanger began to rip apart. Rogue activated her jets and was fighting against the suction. Zim had grabbed the edge of the newly made hole and was holding on to dear life. His jetpack had shorted out.

"…Oh…that ain't good, is it?" Purple said staring at the damage.

"**IDIOT!**" Red shouted towards Rogue. "I'm activating the emergence lock doors for that area!" He started pressing a series of buttons in front of him. He looked back up on the screen. "Rogue! Finish Zim off now!"

"**As you wish."** She replied.

With those words she made a complete turn around and made a beeline towards the Irken hanging on to the entrance's edge. Zim saw her coming and did the only thing he could at that moment. He triggered his Air Bubble and released his grip. He went flying into space with Rogue still coming after him.

Just as the emergency doors sealed the hanger, the cybrog got her hands around Zim's neck.

"…**It's over."** Rogue spoke. With her left hand around his neck she brought her right hand back and shaped her fingers like a spear's head. It was clear with her raw strength and blinding speed how she planned to finish her orders.

The sickest and scariest feeling overtook Zim. This is the feeling before death…

* * *

"**Oooooh, where are you, my naaachos!"**

Gir continued to repeat the same thing over and over has him and Dib roamed through the metal halls of the Massive. Moments ago the sound of the ship loosing one of its hanger doors shook the vicinity.

"What on Earth was that anyway?" Dib asked himself. "…And where the heck are we?" He looked over to the crazy SIR who was now sucking on a piece of metal tubing that he tore out from the wall.

"Hey! You should know where we are, right?" The boy called out. Gir stopped sucking and looked up at him with wide blue eyes. After a brief moment he shook his head.

"I don't know." Gir then answered.

"…Of course you don't." Dib said shaking his head. He stood there for a second or so watching the little robot drift back into its own world. As he started to turn around the sound footsteps stopped him halfway. The sound was coming from ahead of them. Thinking quickly Dib turned towards Gir and ran, picking up the Sir as he went by.

He reached the first door and pressed the button to open it, praying it wasn't locked. The door slid open and without a second though he jumped in. The entrance closed just as two Irken guards came walking around the corner.

With his back against the metal Dib took in a strong sign before taking the time to see where he was now. The only light in the room came from the stars shining through a large round window ahead of Dib. The first thing the boy noticed was what the light landed on.

Glass containers. Each one round like a perfect sphere; supported by individual hovers underneath. Each one with something inside.

"…What the…?" Dib worded as he slowly moved closer to whatever they were. He was about two feet away before he figured it out. "…Specimen samples?"

Inside each round glass bubble was an either an alien plant or a small, what looked like living, creature.

"Incredible!" The spiked haired boy whispered. He couldn't help but reach his hand out and just touch the glass. It was cold; a mini cryogenic chamber. "…Where does the power come from? Does it have an internal power source? Just what is in this one any-?"

"**It tastes like candy!"**

Dib swung his head around to find Gir sucking on one of the glass orbs. Saliva pooled around the small robot. The boy didn't see any harm in this random action.

Getting no 'real' candy taste out of it, Gir started to pound away at the glowing glass. Once again, Dib thought this was no big deal. He turned back to his own amazement.

"**CANDY NOW!"**

One strong punch and the contents came splashing forth. Dib immediately jumped and spun around. The super cold liquid caused the floor to crack and split. He hopped on top of one of the other orbs to escape the freezing ooze.

"**YAAAY!"** Gir screamed.

"What're you doing!" Dib shouted. Within seconds the sub-zero fluid rested and one danger was avoided, only to let another free. The sphere Gir broken contained a nasty little number.

A creature the size of a house cat but with fangs nearly as long as it's body slowly aroused from its cold sleep. It was an obsidian black and rather slimy looking. No really shape to it; more like a blob with teeth.

The room was suddenly filled with Dib's screams and Gir's fanatical laughter.

* * *

A dark greenish fluid danced in the emptiness of space. A pair of eyes frozen wide open. A small trail of the same green going down from his mouth.

Her metal claws met with his left side. Her other claw still gripped around his neck.

He tried to utter words but the pain held them back. The sensation from his waist down was gone. His vision began to go as well. He could feel his own blood seep out of him.

Her body started to tremble. Her hands too. Her mouth loosely hung open as she stared at her own work. Her eyes started to water.

Rogue's claws left Zim's side. He clutched his wound and coughed up more blood.

Suddenly he realized he wasn't dead. The injury…

He looked down and saw it. It wasn't a fatal wound. A fatal wound would have been right through his middle; where his squidalypooch is.

He rose his head up to look at Rogue and was puzzled at what he saw. The Irken was staring vaguely at her hand; the one she used to injury Zim. It was covered in his blood. Not just that…

She was silently crying.

"……"

She finally gazed up at Zim. She looked at his wound and even more tears came flowing forth. But her face didn't match her feelings. It was as blank and soulless as before.

Something hit Zim; mentally. He felt sick, not because of the pain; but something else. He couldn't place it. It was different. He wanted to say something but he didn't know how to put it into words. It was an uncommon type of agony.

He felt it before. When the Tallest attacked Rogue and shut her down. His SIR called it that word he didn't want to think about. However, what else could it be?

He didn't want to see her cry; that was it; it was painful to see Rogue cry. But why? She just tried to kill him. Still, he couldn't let this feeling go.

Rogue's body began to violently tremble. She grabbed her forehead and let loose an ear piercing scream. The blood on her hand rubbed off onto her temple. Her eyes were wet with tears and they refused to stop. She continued to shriek to the point that it hurt Zim. Not his ears though. His chest…

Sparks flew from Rogue's PAK. The sinister override the Tallest installed into her was short-circuiting. In this spasm the cybrog reached over her shoulder and seized the device. She screamed louder as she began to rip the thing off.

Zim's eyes grew. The trauma from removing an override in this manner could bring permit danger to one's PAK.

"**ROGUE! STOP!"** He shouted. His lesion throbbed in an undesirable pain.

He tried to move in closer but the wound to his side didn't let him get too far. He watched in horror as Rogue tore the device clean off her PAK. She body frantically twitched and jerked. Then stopped…

The pain from his injury began to take hold of him. Zim slowly started to slip into an unconscious state. The sheen in his large round red eyes gradually grew dimmer. But this sensation was nothing compared to the pain he was feelings right now. The last thing he saw before the darkness came was Rogue lifeless body hovering right before him.

A single tear formed in his eye before they shut tight…

Moments later, the pods on her PAK gave off a little light before announcing, **'Re-activating'**. Rogue's body jumped with energy. When it stopped her eyes reopened. She lift her head up, she felt dizzy for just a moment before she realized where she was. She touched her face. It was wet. Then she saw the blood on her hands. She recoiled quickly.

"…What hap-?"

She finally noticed Zim. His body suspended with space. His lower half was plastered in blood. His wound was still bleeding.

Horrified. Rogue's limbs started to shake. She then looked back at her hand. She pieced it together.

She had the scariest dream just before. She dreamed that she was killing someone; an individual close to her. She didn't know who it was but she couldn't control herself, till the very last second. She missed the fatal spot by a few inches…

The tears returned in an explosive manner. She didn't try to hold them back. She placed her clean hand to her mouth, believing she was about to be sick. She was now weeping; for the first time in years, she was truthfully crying. It was worst then when she preformed that Organic Sweep years before with her bare hands.

It was clear now and it was right in front of her the whole time. She just didn't want to admit it, or maybe she was stubborn.

"**Zim!"**

Her hands met with his face. She couldn't tell weather or not he could hear her, she wasn't even sure if he was still breathing…

"…Zim…? …Can you hear me?"

She saw the other minor cuts and bruises she had given him during her nightmare. A small trail of dried blood ran down his forehead over his left eye. She saw his PAK. It was a mess; stray wires poking out of the sides; dented and scratched up to an extreme.

"Did I do this too…?" Rogue asked herself. "…What have I done? …**what have I done?**"

She could not hide it any longer. It was bursting from her mental seams. She had never felt this lost and guilty in her life.

She pulled Zim's bruised and nicked face closer to hers, a gesture that's been lost from Irken society for countless years. The air bubbles they both had on didn't stop her from completing this act of hr feelings.

She pressed her lips to his and continued to sob.

"……Mm?"

Zim's eyes shot wide open. Rogue flinch and backed off. They both stared at each other for what felt like a long rather awkward moment.

"…Hmm…" Rogue's tearful expression was replaced by a bight flushed face.

Zim blinked a few times before his injury gave him more trouble. He grabbed his side and moaned.

"I thought you were dead." Rogue suddenly uttered. Zim looked up at her with hazy eyes.

"…I thought you were too…" He answered back. More silence followed. Zim then add, "…what were you just doing there…?"

Rogue's face got redder. This was turning into quite an embarrassing situation. Even so, it was clean to her now, but was it to him?

"…I thought you were dead…" She repeated. "…Don't you **dare **die on me, understand!"

This unexpected outburst caused Zim to jerk a bit. He was about to voice his own opinion, say that it was all her that did this, but his thoughts immediately changed when he saw the tears still flowing from his deep purple eyes.

Rogue continued, "…I don't want you to die! **I didn't mean for this to happen! I'm sorry!**"

Zim placed his fingers to his lips. There was something he wanted to say but he wasn't ready. He could feel the heat come to his face. This was all so…different. He should be yelling and screaming at her; threaten her for nearly killing him, but that just didn't seem like the right time for it.

What does he really want to say? What was the word for it?

"**I love you, you idiot!"**

Flat, dead, silence. Zim's eyes were as wide as satellite dishes. Rogue's face was like burgundy. He didn't say a word at first.

"**What? You want to add something now? Is that it!"** Rogue shouted.** "I didn't plan for this to happen you know! It just happened! And if you want to add your two cents then do it! Give me your best shot, Zim!"**

"…I love you too?"

A question more then an actual answer. Rogue shut her mouth up and looked right at him. "…What was that?" She asked.

"…I…love you…too?" Zim repeated the question. "…I guess Gir and that filthy human were right…"

"Gir told you about this?" Rogue said. "I told him not to say anything! …Well, I guess that doesn't matter anymore, right?" Her eyes then perked.

"**What?"** Zim said.

"…You're blushing." She answered with a little grin.

"**NO I'M NOT!"** Zim screamed in a reaction manner. He grabbed his wound again.

"We have to get that patched up before you make it worst." Rogue confirmed.

"I'll be fine! It's not that-" He stopped and hung over in pain.

"Sure it isn't." Rogue said with a sigh. She opened the hatched to her PAK and pulled out a small aidkit. She proceeded to clean and wrap the injury as Zim continued to insist that it wasn't that bad.

"I command you to stop that!" He shouted.

"I'm already half way done so stop being a baby." She said. She then started to chuckle a little.

"What is it now?" Zim said.

"You know…" She finished wrapping his side with a tight bandage. "You're sort of…'cute' when you act all tough."

"**CUTE? **Zim doesn't know the meaning of that word!" He protested.

"Just stop it already." Rogue said in a pretty laid back tone. This sort of freaked Zim out.

He then began to think about the rest of what the Dib said when they were in that cell. Was he really just…lonesome? How could he be? He has Gir as a companion. But with Rogue it felt different. It was different as to the things they could converse about. An Irken to another Irken. Perhaps…he could use another hand around the base…

No, it was more then that. Having another one of your own to help out wasn't all it was about. There was something else there as well. It was a unique type of acquaintance. Someone you could truly put your trust in. A person you could just talk to, maybe even vent. Zim does that a lot to himself.

"…Rogue?"

"Yeah?"

"…What about the Tallest?"

During the whole episode, for once Rogue had forgotten just who cause all of this. She turned and looked at the enormous Massive still hovering behind them. She didn't remember much but what she did know made her tighten her fist.

"Never again…" She worded. "I'll never let them use me like they did again!"

Zim 'swam' himself over to her side. Rogue moved her sight towards him. "Your jets are shot, aren't they?" She asked.

"Yes, but that's what saved me and brought us out here." He answered. "I'll have to hang on to you to get back to the ship." He hung his head. "…Our plan as been turned upside down. Any ideas?"

Rogue held out her hand to Zim. He look at it and then at her. She had a small yet sharp smile on her lips. He reached and took her hand.

"I've got only one strategy…" She stated. "We finish this any way we can."

**TBC… **


	19. Cutting the Strings

**Chapter 18**

**Cutting the Strings**

The hallways of the Massive echoed with the screams. A few stray lasers whizzed through the air before Dib appeared around the corner with Gir hanging off the fringe of his black jacket. Closely following were three Irken guards aimed with laser guns.

The Earth boy ran for his life as the SIR with him cackled in enjoyment. This was but the newest state of affairs he and Gir got themselves into. Before this it was the room with the mini life support systems where Gir let loose a blood thirsty black thing at Dib. After just barely escaping that while hiding from one of the wandering guards, Gir began singing the tune from the Bloaty's Pizza Hog commercial, in the open, in front of the guard, while dancing. This soon led up to the present screaming and two extra Irkens.

"**This is all your fault!" **Dib shouted behind him at the SIR unit.

"Aaaaw, I luv you too!" Gir answered back.

A laser hit Dib's spike and caught fire. He franticly patted the top of his head to put it out.

Suddenly the ship trembled and tiled to one side, throwing Dib as well as the guards on the floor. The human came to his knees and looked around.

"What was that?" He voiced.

* * *

"**What was that!" **Red shouted.

He and Purple were surrounded by monitoring screens displaying the repair of the blown out hanger door. On the TVs the repairers ran around in a panic not knowing what was happening now.

"Computer! Run a damage check throughout the whole ship!" Red commanded. Seconds later an electronic voice answered by saying, "Minor damage sustained to outer left region. Power lost in areas A-1 through F-5."

"That's where the **soda **storage is! **NOOO!**" Purple sobbed.

"Open a video link to the outside now!" Red ordered. A new screen appeared in front of the Tallest. At first there wasn't anything but the outskirts of space. Red and Purple leaned in closer to the display.

"…Wait, what is that?" Purple pointed out a small 'spot'. It grew bigger and bigger as it got closer to the ship. Suddenly a beam of light shot from the spot and the Massive quaked once more.

"We're under attack!" Purple said.

"**By WHO!" **Red shouted. "Computer! Zoom in!"

The system obeyed and the view of the attacker was brought into light. The Tallest's eyes swelled in size.

* * *

"**FIRE!"**

Zim called out and Rogue obeyed. She had one hand holding onto Zim's while the other blasted at the Massive. At the same time her jet-pack moved them closer to the ship.

"Think we rattled them a bit? Rogue asked.

"One more for the fun of it." Zim said with a grin.

Rogue smiled and complied.

* * *

A third attack shook the ship and brought nearly everyone to their knees. All the guards and other Irkens were running in a panic; there were neither sign nor announcement of an incoming attack. The third assault had blacked out the whole left side of the Massive.

Just then Red's voice boomed throughout the vessel and everyone stopped dead to listen.

"**Attention! **Do not be alarm! All armed Irkens broad their ships and exit through the right region as fast as possible! Be on the look out for Irken Rogue! Shoot her down on sight! **Do you all hear me! **Don't let her on this ship!"

* * *

Dib and Gir found themselves alone again in a different area of the gigantic ship. This time they've made their way to the hangers. They stood at the entrance of the very hanger where Zim was taken before. Dib watched as a whole mess of Irkens ran around screaming even after the Tallest's message over the speakers. 

"Did I just hear that guy say that Rogue was attacking the ship?" Dib asked himself. "Then what happened to Zim?"

The boy's answer came blasting through the half repaired hanger door. Metal and debris flew up in everyone's face. Rogue came in and hovered in the air looking around. The other Irkens freaked out and all headed for the only exit.

Dib and Gir were trampled by dozens of alien feet.

When the room was clear Rogue placed Zim down and went back over the newly made hole. It wasn't as big as the first one but none the less, she picked up a piece of scrape metal, placed it over the gap and used the heat from her gems as a welder to seal it shut.

Recovering from the feet Dib staggered up and looked at the returning Irkens. He immediately noticed Zim's bandage and the blood still staining through it. The human couldn't help but cringe at the sight of it.

"What happened to **you**?" He asked in a curious tone rather then a concerned one.

Zim's head shot up to that voice. **"Dib! **Why are **YOU **still-?" He fell to his knees and grabbed his side.

"No fighting with the human right now, Zim!" Rogue said. She finished closing the hole and walked over to him. "The wound will reopen if you're reckless."

Zim forced himself to stand. "…I'll be fine! No stab through the side is gonna stop me!" He walked towards the hanger entrance passing by Dib. The human could tell he was in pain, a lot of it. This would have been his chance to take him down if a curtain cybrog wasn't watching.

Gir hopped to his feet seeing his master. "…Aww, Zim gots a boo-boo!" He cooed.

"Gir, I need you to go back to the Voot and wait for me to contact you." Zim said. He cringed for a moment. "We'll be leaving in a hurry so get it ready for an immediately take off."

"He didn't know where we were the whole time I was with him!" Dib voiced his option. Rogue shot the human a look for talking.

"**Yes, my Lord!" **Gir's eyes flashed red and he ran out of the hanger.

"Hey! Didn't you just hear me?" Dib said.

"Not really." Rogue said to him.

"My robot is built with a homing mechanism so he can find the ship on his own." Zim explained. "Good thing you didn't know about that, uh Dib?" He flashed him a sarcastic smirk.

"…I hate you." Dib replied.

"We're set on what we're doing, right Zim?" Rogue asked.

Zim nodded. "When you give the signal, Gir and I will-"

His sentence was interrupted when the huge monitoring screen from before came back down and displayed Red and Purple's faces.

"**ROGUE! **What are you doing!" Red shouted in an angry tone. "We told you to destroy Zim! You disobeyed **twice **now. What were you thinking attacking our ship!"

The female alien turned to the screen and aimed her gem up at it. "Shut up." She fired and busted the screen.

* * *

The Tallest stood in front of a blank monitor.

"…I don't know how it happened but Rogue has been broken from her override." Red said in a low angry voice. He looked down at his wrist. "I can't even get a signal anymore. She's acting all on her own now."

"All this and Zim is **still **alive! What is it gonna take!" Purple shouted.

A thought hit Red. "Those ships are still out there looking for her."

"I'll call them back." Purple said.

"No…not yet." Red said. "I've got an idea…"

* * *

Zim and Rogue ran down the halls of the Massive with Dib tagging behind. At the end of the passage two guards spotted them and readied their weapons. The cybrog fired her own weapons and disarmed the guards. They tried to run for it by Rogue brought them down and knocked both of them out. 

Zim picked up on of the laser guns the Irkens had. With his PAK damaged he needed a little firepower for himself. Dib stole the idea and took the other gun for himself. He looked it over before it went off and scorched one of the walls.

"Hey! Don't touch one of those unless you know how to use it." Rogue remarked.

"We should be near the fuel room." Zim said. "The way to the Control Brain room was this way, right?"

"Yeah, just beyond this point then hang a right, but we'll be going left." Rogue answered.

"The fuel room?" Dib stated.

Just then the light on Rogue's PAK went off. Her looked at it but said nothing.

"It's **them**…" Zim said sternly. "They'll know we'll be in the fuel room."

"…Let them know." Rogue said. "I'm not afraid of them."

They continued down the corridor. A faint stench hit the air; a sign they were getting close. The halls grew bigger as they got closer. They finally reached the doorway to the fuel room. Rogue punched through it and tore it clean off its hinges.

The area was shaped like a sphere with a two huge cylinder shaped energy containers in the middle. Inside a bright red liquid glowed and bubbled through the thick windows around the metal. Vast tubes connected the liquid throughout the whole room and throughout the rest of the ship as well.

"…Woooah." Dib said looking up at the vastness of it.

"Alright! Get to it!" Zim said.

"Right." Rogue answered. She went up to the middle and to the right cylinder. She bend down and proceeded to raise her gem from its socket as the sound of pounding feet could be heard coming down the hall towards them.

"They're coming!" Dib said.

"Hurry Rogue!" Zim shouted.

The cybrog revealed a series of connections from under her gems and hooked them up to one of the boards of the fuel tanks. A hologram screen appeared and showed the temperature of the tanks. With a press of a button she began their plan.

"Once this starts, we'll have 15 minutes to get back to the Voot." Rogue said.

"That's what you think."

A flash of light stuck Rogue's arm and all of her connections were cut from the fuel tank. At the other side of the room were Red and Purple as well and a horde of guards backing them. One of the guards in front had fired at Rogue's arm.

"Planning on overheating the tanks, uh?" Red said.

Zim growled while Dib tried to figure out the laser he had. Rogue stood up and shot a glare to the Tallest. Her one arm was burned out thanks to that sudden attack. The gem on it had lost its interior glow. She uttered a curse under her breath.

"You were waiting for us, weren't you?" She said.

"That's right. And now there isn't anywhere for you to run." Purple said.

"Spare me." The female Irken said in a cynical tone. "We were in a situation like this before, remember? And this time your bug has been removed. You can't do a thing to me now."

"I think you better reconsider that, because at this moment the entire outside is crawling with armed vessels waiting for you to show your face!" Red said. "Even if you got back to your ship, you wouldn't get too far."

Zim grit his teeth, forcing himself not to charge right at the two tall ones. He'd be shot on the spot by one of the guards around them. Dib was trembling some but did his best not to show it.

"Give yourself up Rogue!" Red said. "This little game had gone long enough. And that goes for you too Zim."

"**Never!**" The Irken protested. "I'm not giving up yet!"

"You always didn't know when to stop, did you?" Purple said.

"Stop what?" Zim asked.

"You know…the stuff that you do…that brings pain to others!" Purple added.

"Yes! I am very good with pain bring." Zim boosted.

"Enough already!" Red shouted. The security Irkens pointed their guns at the three. "Drop your weapons and come with us quietly."

The thought of firing lasers at the Tallest's head was gradually growing more and more tempting for Zim. Weighting out the odds he ended up placing the gun on the floor near his feet. He turned his head to the Dib. "Drop it." He whispered to the human.

Dib didn't waste a second following that order. His fingers let loose the handle of the gun. The instant it hit the floor, the laser went off. The beam of hot light ricocheted off the ceiling, then the floor, back to the ceiling; everyone hit the ground and covered their heads.

The three fugitives ducked behind one of the two tubes and watched out for the wild beam. The Tallest and the guards backing them laid flat on the metal flooring. In the middle of the confusion another shot was fired and stunk one of the sentinel Irkens, throwing the alien backwards. Rogue's glowing gem appeared around their hiding place then disappeared again.

"Your orders, my Tallest!" One of the other Irkens shouted. The stray laser finally found a resting place at the edge of Red's long robe. It caught on fire but was quickly put out by the Irkens standing close to him.

"Don't fire! The room would just bounce back everything!" Red shouted.

Behind the shining cylinder the three played a deadly waiting game with the Irken leaders. Rogue was tinkering with the arm the guards had shot. The internal tech in her left arm was fried. The only thing she could do with it was move it but the all other functions were down in that one arm.

"Can you fix it?" Zim asked in a low voice.

She shook her head. "I couldn't repair this without some special tools, which I don't have…" She let loose a hard, stressed sigh. She glared up at Dib for a moment. "For once your interference proofed somewhat helpful. Don't touch any more guns."

Zim's body began to tense up under the pressure. "Can you still overheat the fuel with just one arm?"

Rogue hung her head. "…I doubt it. I'm now just running on half power with my arm out of commission. I wouldn't be able to gain enough power to overheat the tanks." She hid her face in her hands. "…I screwed up again."

"No, you didn't." Zim replied. Rogue rose her head up. "You still have one gem working, right? Use that!"

The words of the male Irken were forceful and maybe even selfish, but something about them caused Rogue to see something. Just like what Red and Purple said before, he didn't know when to give up. If there was just a hint of hope, just a miniature chance he'd do everything in his being to take it. That was enough to rekindle her vigor.

"…Get ready to run." She stated. Her right gem slowly gave off its crimson glow.

"Run? Where to?" Dib said.

"This didn't concern you, you do realize that." Zim said. "If you want to live then that's your problem."

"Listen." Rogue said. "I'll hold them off while you out of here. Once you're in the clear call on Gir to bring in the Voot."

"But all the ships outside…" Zim added.

"You have a good chance." She said. "The Auto Defense that was in my old ship was installed into ours. Just tell Gir to activate that when he closes in on those other ships."

Zim then asked, "What about you?"

Rogue didn't say anything right away. She contemplated that question for a minute. "…I'll be fine." She turned her whole body towards Zim. "I'll be right behind you, I promise."

A strange ease passed over Zim just then. He believed she would be ok but at the same time he didn't want to abandon her. She was injured; not badly but in the present condition of things her fighting potential was cut in half.

"…Don't you dare die on me."

With those words Zim got up and lunged towards the door out of the fuel room. A shot was fired at him but he dodged it. Dib soon followed as the room began to echo with laser fire. Dozens of beams bounced off the metal interior.

"**Stop it you idiots!**" Red shouted as he and Purple ducked out of the way of the crossfire.

Rogue dived out from behind her hiding place and began blasting away. Three consecutive fires knocked three guns out of three Irkens' hands. The speed of her shots was incredible. Seconds afterward two stray beams nailed her in the back. This surprise attack only dazed her for a second before she regain her senses.

"Fire on **HER**!" Red commanded.

* * *

The two rivals ran though the Massive. The sounds of the battle inside the fuel room slowly faded into the background behind them. Zim paused and looked behind him. Dib ran past him before he too stopped.

"What are you doing?" The human asked.

Zim took a minute to reflect on things. Here he was, running away from the Tallest, leaving Rogue to take them on herself. Somehow that just didn't sit well with him. Sure, she said she'd be fine. She was still strong enough hold her own. But the last time they parted ways for whatever reason…

Zim forced the thoughts out of his head and continued on his way. He passed by Dib without answering his earlier question. The human silently pondered to himself before giving up. He resumed following the alien.

The two rushed through the long halls and large doorways. It seemed that thanks to Rogue's presents there was no one around to watch over the passageways of the ship. There were still a few levels to go before Zim planned to contact Gir back at the Voot.

* * *

The fuel room roared with laser fire. Loose beams continued to threat the air as Rogue dodged and shot. There were only a few guards left and the Tallest continued to hide behind them. A few of the Irkens had run away in fear abandoning their orders and their leaders. 

Rogue evaded another bout of lasers by dive rolling on the floor. While rolling she unleashed a bout of her own. Her attack brought down the last of the guards. Red and Purple were finally wide open.

The cybrog leaped up and aimed her gems at the Tallest. "Checkmate."

Red and Purple hovered with stunned looks on their faces. Even with just one laser functioning Rogue stood victorious.

"What's the matter? You look surprised." Rogue spoke with a grin. "Did you honestly think a group of Irken guards would save you? You two are getting more desperate."

"Don't shoot us!" Purple cried out.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Red snapped back. He looked back at Rogue. "…Have you stopped and thought about what this all will lead to, Rogue?"

The female Irken's expression didn't change.

"We could easily just let you go. Your right, we're no match for you, it's clear!" Red displayed his best smirk. "However, as soon as you go, everyone will hear about your retaliation to the Empire, and you'll become a wanted alien. Your face will be plastered on every planet under Irken rule! How does a life of running from every bounty hunter in the known universe sound to you?"

Rogue's face still refused to alter. Her gem continued to give off a soft but growing glow.

Red continued. "And not just that, we'll mark Zim as a danger as well. He did mean to bring harm to us. Under law, he's a wanted Irken now! And even with his dumb luck he wouldn't last long as an outlaw."

"Ye-yeah! That right!" Purple finally spoke up. "Both you and Zim will be the most wanted fugitives in space! We'll place a **HUGE **price on your heads!"

Rogue finally may her own remark. "…That's funny. Could that mean that you two are afraid of him now?"

The Tallest didn't answer that one. Red just shook his head and laughed. "That's not it! We just want him out of our sights for good! He's been a burden to us and everyone since the day he was born."

"But if someone you know suddenly becomes a threat then it's natural to be in fear of them from here on out." Rogue said. "Then you would do everything in your power to protect yourself, like hide behind others."

"What are you trying to say?" Red said.

Rogue raised her other arm up and flashed her two claws. "You now have **two** Irkens to worry about and that has upped your anxiety, am I right?"

The Tallest still had nothing to say there.

"Besides…" She lowered her arms and placed them to her side. "…Who said I was going to leave this ship alive?"

* * *

Zim and Dib had arrived at the front of the Massive; the main hanger bay. Again, there weren't any guards to worry about, but the display window in front of them clearly showed the squad of ships waiting to attack. 

"Ok!" Zim's PAK opened and a tiny metal sphere come hovering out in front of him. A hologram of Gir appeared from out of the ball.

"**Hiii!**" Gir welcomed his master over the transmission.

"Gir! Bring the cruiser over to the front!" Zim commanded, and then added, "When you see the group of ships, activate the Auto Defense program!"

"Yay! Ok!" Gir waved goodbye before the screen disappeared and the hologram ball returned to Zim's PAK.

* * *

Outside the Massive the squadron of Irken vessels waited for their target. Within a few minutes a lone Voot appeared around the side of the huge command ship. Inside the little SIR grin as he pressed the round glowing button on the panel that read, 'Auto Defense'. 

The Voot cruiser hummed as the computer announced, "Auto Defense Activated". The ship took control of itself and blasted towards the front. Right away the pilots caught sight of the new ship.

Seeing that it wasn't one of their own, the first few ships fired at will. The beams were canceled out by the sudden launch of the Voot's energy defense shield; an extra left behind by Rogue's older ship. Next was the ship's auto artillery on the front. A built-in targeting system singled out each enemy ship and fired. Three blasts, three vessels shot down. Inside the cockpit Gir watched through the front window like it was all a movie.

* * *

Just inside the Massive Zim and Dib were getting a good view of the battle outside. The human couldn't help but stare through the glass as the explosions and lasers were like an extreme display of fireworks. 

"Perfect!" Zim shouted. "Once that threat is out of the way, we've off this ship!" He paused for a moment and looked behind him. He wondered what was keeping Rogue…

* * *

The fuel room was quiet before Red spoke up saying, "What do you mean by that, Rogue?"

"Are you finally giving up?" Purple asked hopefully.

The sound of the battle outside reached them. The Tallest jerked around confused at first by the noise.

"What was that?" Purple said.

"That would be your ships being attacked by Zim." Rogue blurted out.

Red immediately grew hot with anger. "**WHAT!** How can one ship take on a dozen fighter crafts!"

A creepy smile appeared on Rogue's face. "It's a secret."

"You answer me, you little cheat!" Red shouted. He hovered right over to her, shot his hand downward and grabbed Rogue by the rim of her uniform. The Irken cybrog wasn't the slightly intimidated by this. She just continued to smile.

"Wipe that grin off your face!" Red said. His face was so close to Rogue she could smell his breath. She took this opportunity and spit right into the Tallest's face. He dropped her to tend to his facade.

"You just earn yourself a death wish, Rogue." Red hissed.

She got back up on her own two feet and calmly dusted her clothes off. "…That's just fine. Didn't I say I wasn't planning on leaving here alive?"

"Then you better come quietly." Red declared.

Without saying a word, Rogue slowly raised her arms beside herself. "Let's get this over with then."

Red and Purple both grin as they moved in closer.

"…Gotcha." They both worded.

"…No, got **you**."

Rogue's gems flashed and lifted from their oval settings. Dozens of thin wires flew out and stuck themselves on the walls and fuel tubes in the room. Seconds later the pods on her PAK opened and even more wires materialized and came into contact with the walls and tubes.

"What are you doing!" Red said.

The wiring began to embed into the tough metal interior. Suddenly surges of energy released from Rogue's body and merged into anything a wire was touching.

The Tallest's faces lost all of its color. "**What are you doing!**" They both screamed.

Her face hung to the floor before it slowly rose up and glared back at the taller ones. They were set back at what they saw. The cybrog's gaze was somewhat dull and robotic looking. She opened her mouth and spoke to them in a tone that reminded them of a Control Brain; partly organic and partly mechanical.

"I have fully tapped into the Massive's hard frame. I am now one with this ship."

* * *

The last group of enemy ships had fallen victim to the 'phantom' Voot. Gir cheered then called his Master. 

Zim's PAK popped out the hologram ball from before and showed Gir's mug on the screen.

"Da baddies are all gone!" The little SIR announced.

Zim was hesitance at first to Gir's good news. Rogue had still to show up. He looked back once again before giving his robot his next order. "Now, Gir, ram the ship into the hanger door!"

"Okidoki!" Gir replied.

Seconds afterwards the hanger door had a new opening with the Voot's front end sticking into the Massive. The glass bubble opened up and Gir waved to Zim and Dib.

The human boy didn't have to be told twice. He ran ahead of Zim and jumped into the ship. But Zim didn't even move from his spot. He was willing to give Rogue a few more moments.

High above them on one of the walls a security cam moved and landed its sight right on Zim…

* * *

Rogue's eyes were everywhere. Her eyes were the cams all throughout the Massive and right then and now she could see Zim still waiting for him in the hanger bay. Her mind, her thoughts were one with the ships. She needed him off the ship and now.

* * *

"Zim! What are you waiting for?" 

The Irken nearly jumped out of his boots at the sudden sound of Rogue's voice. It seemed to echo all around him. He looked around but there was no sign of her.

"…Rogue!"

"Get **off **the **ship**!" Her voice called out.

Zim finally figured it out. Her voice was coming from the speakers in the room. "Where are you! We're ready to go!"

"…You go without me! Do it now!" She answered.

Zim got irritated. "**NO**! I command you to get over here and leave with me! You can't get off without our ship!"

A short yet unsettling moment passed by.

"…Zim…just go. You don't want to be on this ship in the next few minutes." Rogue said.

"Why? Where are you?" He stopped and then asked, "Were you captured? I'll come and get you!"

"**JUST GO, YOU IDIOT!"**

Rogue's hard words finally got through Zim. Without asking anymore he went into his ship and closed the bubble shield. He started the engines and wedged himself out of the hold made by Gir. The Voot blasted away from the Massive with its pilot left with a hanging question.

Zim turned the ship around and looked back at his leader's vessel. He believed that Rogue had something planned but he just didn't have a clue what.

Gir walked up to him and looked out the window. "I thought Rogue was coming with us." His innocent comment just added a touch of worry in Zim.

'Where is she?' He thought to himself.

'_You don't want to be on this ship in the next few minutes…'_

Those words were disquieting to Zim.

* * *

With her message sent and Zim safely off the Massive, Rogue slowly inhaled a sigh of relief. Her words could not be heard by the Tallest. Everything that she had just said to Zim was by thought alone. 

Red and Purple pushed back the wires that stood in their way between them and the Irken before them.

"What do you mean your 'one with the ship'!" Red shouted. "Do play games with us! There's no **way **that's possible!"

"Then what **is** she doing there?" Purple added.

Rogue looked right up at the Tallest and slanted her eyes in a rather cold manner. "I've been mocked, hated, feared, lied to, and for **what **I ask you."

An unexpected rumbling shook the ship. The tremor was then followed by a computer voiced announcement.

'**WARNING! WARNING! The automatic self-destruct system has been activated. Destruction of Massive in T-minus three minutes. Please evacuate immediately.'**

Red lights went off all over the ship, including in the room the Tallest and Rogue were in.

"**The self-destruct system?" **Purple freaked.

Red glared at Rogue, still connected into the Massive. His face once again lost all color. "…Did you-?

The female cybrog just grinned. "It looks like I went and violated another commandment rule; you two are the only ones that should be able to call on that method, right?"

"**We're got to get outta here!" **Purple shrieked. He flew ahead of Red and scrambled through Rogue's wirings. He got to the door and hovered down the hallway screaming his lungs out.

"**You coward!" **Red shouted back. "Rogue! Cancel that commandment right now!"

"Don't you know? It doesn't **have **a cancel command." She answered. Red's eyes widened. "…The system is telling me that you have only **two minutes **left till destruction. What will it be, _my Tallest_?"

"**Your out of you mind! **We should have killed you when we had the chance! You're **nothing** but a crazed weapon with a brain!" Red shouted.

Rogue was quiet for a moment. The ship suddenly trembled again, marking the nearing of the Massive's utter annihilation. She glared at Red without blinking. It brought a chilling feeling throughout the Tallest's spine.

"Your shallow words have no effect on me anymore. I can see right though you now, and its nothing to be afraid of. You just hide behind the image of a 'powerful' and 'almighty' leader. You are the one that's **nothing**. Tear off the outer layer and you get a weakling that has no idea what to do when all the cards are on the table."

The smell of fire reached the room and all around the vessel as the Massive's lesser components begun final breakdown. Any Irkens that were wandering around on the ships had left on smaller escape crafts, one of them being Purple not worrying about his other ruling partner.

The fuel room started to rupture and crack around the external walls and tubing.

"You know…your standing in the soon to be ground zero." Rogue spoke to Red. "T-minus one minute."

Finally the Tallest fought though the forest of wires and got to the door. Before he exited he turned to Rogue and shouted, "Your sacrifice will be for nothing Rogue! The only thing your doing for us is a favor! Stay here and get blown up!" He left.

The room around her began to fall apart. Outside the outer exterior of the ship was spitting. Her wires still embedded into the walls, pulsing like a heart. That pulse quickened like a heart attack and its effect reflected off Rogue. Beads off sweat formed on her head; her breathing was getting heavy.

"…huff huff……At last…this will cut my ties to them…"

Her vision grew to a blur. The computer gave her the final warning; thirty seconds.

"….I…am no longer…their puppet…and this…isn't. the. end!"

* * *

Just a half mile away the Voot was still facing the huge ship. In the blink of an eye the vision of all three passengers were greeted by a swift flash of light followed by an immense explosion that rocked the Voot like a quake. The scene lasted only a few brief seconds before it was all quiet again. The space where the once mighty Massive stood was now occupied by nothing but dust and twisted metal. 

No words were uttered soon after the sight, just broad eyes staring out into the black space where the ship was. Not even a clueless comment from Gir. It seemed that even the little SIR unit understood the event that just took place. His round blue eyes looked up at Zim.

The Irken's mouth was slightly opened, just hanging from the hinge of his jaw. His knees suddenly gave out and he fell to the floor. The human standing next to him turned his head to his rival and noticed the blank and shocked look on Zim's face.

"…Did she…did Rogue get out of that?" Dib voiced. For the first time during this whole thing he sounded somewhat concerned.

Zim's head faced the cold metal floor. He was on his hands and knees. The last mental picture of Rogue flashed by him like an old memory then faded away. Then the words she shouted at him came back. _"You don't want to be on this ship in the next few minutes."_

He slammed his fist on the floor, hard. He continued to hit the flooring till his hand trembled in pain. His entire body followed afterward, he could barely keep himself up.

"…She lied again…" He said in a low tone. **"…She LIED to me again!"**

Both fist hit the metal this time. That's when Dib and Gir saw it. A tear; it fell from Zim's face and pooled in front of him. That pool slowly grew bigger as even more tears escaped from his eyes. The human was speechless. He's never witnessed his enemy in this kind of state before.

"I **told **her not to die on me!" Zim shouted. "She said she'd be fine…she'd right behind me…" The Irken finally broke down. Even with his rival standing right beside him he took hold of humiliate and broke out in a stream of tears.

"…Master…" Gir walked up and kneeled down to Zim's level. His blue eyes were wet as well.

The air was stiff with the shock of the situation. But the silence was suddenly broken by the crackle of the Voot's control panel.

**crackle"Zim!"crackle**

Zim's body jerked and shot his head up to the voice. There was no doubt in his mind; he knew who that was.

"…Rogue?"

He jumped up to the controls and replied to the transmission. "Rogue! Rogue, is this you!"

"**Zim!" crackle "..Get ready to catch me!"**

"Catch yo-?" Zim looked up and saw someone flying towards them. It was Rogue, battered, bruised, but alive! The Irken opened the bubble door and she flew right in, knocking right into Zim. They were thrown backwards landing into on of the backseats.

Rogue slowly looked up at Zim with a burned and cut up face. She gave a little grin. "Hey."

Zim was happy to see her and shocked all at the same time. "I can't believe it! How did you get out of that? I thought for sure you were-" He stopped when he noticed her hands.

From her elbows down there was nothing but loose wires and flying sparks. The holders for her gems were still there as wells as the gems themselves, but they were just the interior, skeleton of her hands.

"Your hands…" Zim uttered.

Even Dib was taken back by this and risked by asking, "What happened?"

Rogue rolled off Zim and planted herself back to him. It was clear she was busted up good.

"…I wasn't sure if I was gonna make it out of there in one piece. When I hacked in and activated the ship's self-destruct system the stress on the ship ultimately affected me as well right up to the point of the explosion. I didn't have too much time to think so I took a major risk."

"During the last ten seconds I aborted myself from the system's mainframe by tearing all my connections away from the circuits. That alone was painful. Right afterwards with my only working arm I fired up my personal shield which only gave me about half the protection I could've had if my other arm wasn't out of order."

"When the moment came the sneer strain on my bionics caused my hands to break away. I guess I was lucky though because my shield didn't give out till I was in safe distance of the blast. I was able to make a short distance transmission to you and the Voot right afterward."

Rogue stopped and gazed up at Zim. She saw the moisture in his eyes. "…Were you crying?"

Zim twitched at her simple question. Instead of answering right off he looked over at Gir and Dib. The SIR just smiled and the human gave a look that said, 'I saw it, he did.'

"Why would I be crying?" The Irken stated. "I knew you would be ok."

"No you didn't, you were crying and thought Rogue went boom." Gir spoke up.

"He's right you know." Dib added.

"**SHUT UP!" **Zim snapped.

Rogue began laughing. Zim swung his head over and looked at her funny. **"What!" **He said.

"You are **such **a bad liar, Zim." Rogue said. "I opened a connection just before I send my transmission so I got to ease drop. You were crying so don't even try to hide it."

The Irken's green face turned a beet red. The sound of snickering came from behind him. He looked over his shoulder and glared at his robot and his Earthling rival.

"Zim…" Rogue said. He looked back to her. "The Massive may be gone but I think the Tallest were able to get off before the explosion. They may start looking for you now cause of this you know."

"What about you?" Zim asked. Rogue didn't understand the nature of his question. He continued, "They must think you're dead now, right?"

"I would think so." Rogue said. She looked down at her damaged hands. "…I took a stupid risk back there but it paid off. But even if they believe I'm gone for good, they'll come after you…" After a moment of thought her eyes perked.

"What?" Zim said noticing the look on her face.

"I think I know how to fix that problem." She smiled. "But for now, what say we just go home?"

Zim stole a moment before answering Rogue's request. He was looking into her eyes again, like he was before while they were on the Massive. He saw a softer glow then before. It was like something heavy had been lifted off the Irken's shoulders. She had just cut all her ties from the Tallest; she was in a sense free from their grip.

"Yeah, let's get back to our base." Zim finally answered as he moved up to the Voot's controls.

"Our?" Rogue said.

Zim stopped and stood still. "…Well, you'll need somewhere to hide out so the Tallest won't find out about you, right?" He tried to sound rather professional but it didn't come out like that.

After a few seconds of silence she smiled and said, "Thank you."

Gir hopped up next to the cybrog and wrapped his tiny arms around her. "Yay! You're gonna live with us?"

"It sounds like it, doesn't it?" She said. She then looked up at the only unwelcome guest throughout the whole event. "As for you, you better start watching your back, Dib. Your little 'save the Earth' strategies are gonna have to be pretty darn good from this point on." She tapped the side of her head and added, "What Zim lacks, I've got, understand?"

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" Dib said.

"What do you mean I lack!" Zim shouted back.

"A quick response time for one…" Rogue whispered and snickered.

The Voot shot throughout space heading back to Zim, and Rogue's home base back on planet Earth.

**TBC…**


	20. EPILOGUE

**EPILOGUE**

"…Earth Log entry 00.01."

"For my first entry…well, I'll start by stated that I am no longer under the shadows of my _former _Masters. They believe that I am longer alive so that makes me a free Irken. I'll have to hide away from the Empire but I don't think that will be problem as I've found the perfect place to stay."

"Just a few hours ago we've returned from space. The first thing we got to do I still laugh when I think about it…snicker…"

**FLASHBACK**

The round window outside Zim's home suddenly opened and the tip of the catapult he had hidden up there peeked out with Dib strapped to it.

"**Hey! Get me out of this thing! I'm warning you, I'll get you for-"**

Threats were cut short as the catapult flung him clear over the other houses. His screams could be heard for minutes till they were halted by him going though the window of his upstairs room.

Inside Zim, Gir, and Rogue watched the whole thing from the top window.

"…Wow, you were right. He **did **hit his house!" Zim said with a pair of binoculars and a big grin.

"Do I have mean accuracy or what?" Rogue boasted.

"Do it again!" Gir shouted.

**END FLASHBACK**

"It was **so **perfect. I think I impressed Zim too."

"The next thing that had to be done was my hands. I damaged them during our escaped from the Massive. Thankfully Zim had the necessary tools I needed to repair them. He helped…"

**FLASHBACK**

"…And that goes there…and that wire connects into that socket…"

The two Irkens were in the underground lab. Rogue directed Zim through the process of connecting the last remaining circuits in her hands. With the final connection her gems flashed red and she could finally move her fingers and wrists.

"Finished!" Zim announced.

"Not quite." Rogue said. "I liked to give them a test. Got anything heavy?"

Zim thought for a moment then headed over to his computer's panel. The middle of the floor opened up and brought up a huge crate. The box was made of metal and had a single red button on the side. Zim pressed it and the sides fell down then slide under the containments; which was another cubic item. It looked like a hunk of iron.

"Vorterain alloy; one of the toughest and heaviest metals known to the Irken race, thanks to the take over of planet Vort." Zim said.

Rogue walked up to the metal and looked it over. "Toughest and heaviest, uh?" She knocked on it for a bit before placing her hands underneath the cube. Zim was blown away as the Irken cybrog lifted the metal up and over her head like it was made of air. She then threw the cube a few inches in the sir and caught it with ease.

She gently placed it back down and gazed back at a gawking Zim. "Great! Good as new!" She said with a grin.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"Heh, the look on his face was priceless…"

"Soon afterwards, I suggested on what to do about a more pressing matter…"

**FLASHBACK**

"Tell me why we're doing this again?" Zim asked.

"Because I think it'll work, considering the circumstances." Rogue said. "How, just like I told you, give'em a good show."

Zim pressed a button on his computer and called on an emergency line which was connected to the Tallest. The screen was blank for a moment but then a picture came through. It was a blurred image of what looked like Red's head. Behind him was Purple, a blurry Purple. It was a weak connection but it was working nonetheless.

"**Who is this? This better be good!" **Red's voice came through. He was angry, that was for sure. In the background the sounds of voices and ships taking off could be heard. It sounded like they were back on Irk or a planet under Irken rule.

"My Tallest?" Zim said.

The very second Zim spoke the sound of screaming was heard. It sounded like Purple. Red's face jerked and looked like he nearly tripped over something.

"…Who is this again?" He said back in a weak tone of voice.

"It is I, my Tallest. Invader Zim!" Zim stated, adding in a salute.

"Zim! I uh…heh, um…look, about everything that happened. We're willing to cut an idea with you." Red sounded like he was tumbling over his own words as Purple then shouted in the back, **"Don't talk to him, he's crazy!"**

"**Shut up you idiot!" **Red shouted back.

"Where are you right now? It doesn't sound like you're on the Massive." Zim said, sounding confused.

"Where **are **we? **Where are we?**" Red said. "We're on a mining planet no thanks to- wait…" Red stopped and looked into the screen. "What's that on your head?"

Zim had an oversized bandage wrapped around his head. Off screen Rogue hide behind the computer, quietly giggling under her breath.

"Oh, this thing?" Zim said pointing to his head. "That's a good question. I don't remember what happened but all I do know is I woke up with quite a concussion, woo boy, was I all dizzy. Anyway, what's going on with you two, uh?"

"Wait…are you telling me you don't remember what happened for the past say…few days?" Red asked.

"Nope." Zim simply answered.

"…Does the name _Rogue _ring any bells?"

"Who?"

An awkward silence followed.

"…Uh…well…keep up the good work then, Zim." Red finally spoke.

"I will sirs!" Zim said with another salute.

The screen went blank again but not without a little tinkering by Rogue. She fixed the transmission so they could hear what that Tallest were saying right after allegedly signing off.

"Did you just hear that!" Red's voice said.

"That idiot hit his head and he forgot the whole thing!" Purple said. "…How do you suppose he did that?"

"**Who cares!" **Red shouted. "We're in the clear! If he doesn't remember anything then we've got nothing to worry about!"

"Then the whole thing with Rogue was for nothing." Purple added.

"We don't need her anymore. She's history anyway. No one could have lived through that, she was **in **where the blast originated!" Red said.

"Yeah, your right…but maybe we should just…not do anything to tick Zim off…just in case?" Purple said.

"…Yeah, yeah, just for a precaution. Good idea." Red said.

Rogue cut off the audio transmission.

"I was right! They think I'm dead now!" She said. "And did you hear what they said about you? By the way, you could work a little on your acting."

"My acting was perfect! I fooled the Tallest, didn't I?" Zim proclaimed. He ripped off the fake wrap around his head. "Still, **I CAN NOW CONTINUE WITH MY DREAM OF RULING THIS PLANET IN PEACE! MWWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"**

Rogue at first jumped at Zim's random outburst but then smiled knowing he was happy that things were back to normal.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"I don't think I've seen him that happy over something the short time I've known him. What can I say…I'm happy myself with the way things turned out."

"I think that's good for the first Earth entry. I have to go and ask Zim something."

"End of entry."

* * *

The sun had begun to set on the human city and on Zim's house. Inside Zim was sitting on the couch with Gir playing across the room with a set of his rubber piggies. Both were glad to be back home and in one piece. 

Repairs were done on the Voot after such a long journey and it seemed like everything was truly back to normal. Tomorrow Zim would go back the human Skool and continue with his plan to take over. Even after finding out the harsh truth he was more then determined to finish what he started.

Rogue strolled into the living room and saw Zim relaxing on the couch. She walked up and planted herself right next to him. A few moments passed by before any words were spoken.

"…Zim, I have to ask you something." Rogue said.

"What?" He said.

"Well…I know you said I can stay here so the Tallest or the Empire can't find out about me, but that just got me thinking…" She looked down at her boots before going on. "…If that's the case, I may be staying here for quite a while. Would you mind that? Me staying here with you?"

Zim stared at her for what seemed like an eternal. The thought about another Irken being with him ran though his mind a number of times. He didn't know but slowly a show of rouge appeared on is face. Rogue didn't say anything about it. She just waited for his answer.

"…Did I not say you could stay here? When I said you can stay, I meant it." He said.

"Even if it means forever?" She suddenly asked.

That got the rest of the red out of Zim's face; from his chin to the top of his head. Rogue couldn't hold it in anymore. She burst out in laughter, nearly falling out of her seat.

"**Enough!" **Zim shouted.

Rogue got control of herself. "So, what's your answer?"

The Irken could still feel the heat in his face. Plus, Gir was watching every minute of this. Embarrassment was rearing its head. Drops of sweat dripped from his forehead.

"Zim, if you can't say it, then let's just shake on it." Rogue said. She held out her hand to him.

That got some answer out of him. "…Uh, yes. Yes! We shake!"

He reached up and grasped her hand. A few shakes ensued but the hands didn't come apart. Zim was pulled in and two lips were met. His eyes grew like inflated balloons and his antennas shot straight up in the air. Warm fuzzies took hold of him and for a moment he felt like he was floating.

The two Irkens pulled apart to breath. Zim's facial expression didn't seem to change. Rogue blankly stared back at him for a second. This time instead of laughing at his confused state she gave him a warm smile. For the first time she looked at him with a soft glow in her eyes.

"You know, I have a feeling you like my eyes. I've noticed you've been staring at them." Rogue said.

"**I've-never-said-I-think-your-eyes-look-like-the-most-beautiful-optic-orbs-in-the-whole-known-universe!" **Zim screeched. **"LIES!"**

"I like your eyes too." Rogue answered.

Just then the familiar sound of a rubber piggy caught the attention of the two Irkens. Gir sat in front of them with a huge grin on his face. His metal face showed a little pink of embarrassment.

"**Awww!" **The little robot cooed. "Maybe I should leave you two alooone!"

**THE END**


End file.
